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FAMOUS  MEN 
MODERN  TIMES 


I 


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FAMOUS  MEN 

OF 

MODERN  TIMES 


By 


JOHN  H.  HAAREN,  LL.D. 

Associate  City  Superintendent  of  Schools 
The  City  of  New  York 


and 

A.  B.  POLAND,  Ph.D. 

Superintendent  of  Schools 
Newark,  N.  J. 


New  York  .'.  Cincinnati  .*,  Chicago 
AMERICAN  BOOK  CO.MPANY 


i 


Copyright,  1909  by 
AMERICAN  BOOK  COMPANY 


Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London 

FAMOUS    MEN   OF    MODEKN   TIMES 


-PREFACE 

It  should  be  carefully  noted  that  this  little  volume  is  the 
fourth  and  last  in  a  series  written  for  the  express  purpose  of 
creating  a  deeper  interest  in  the  study  of  History, 

These  four  volumes  are  entitled  respectively  "Famous 
Men  of  Greece;"  "Famous  Men  of  Rome;"  "Famous  Men 
of  the  Middle  Ages;"  and  "Famous  Men  of  Modern  Times." 

The  very  titles  of  these  books  convey  at  once,  both  to  the 
teacher  and  the  pupil,  tliat  the  method  of  teaching  History 
here  pursued  is  by  approaching  it  through  the  realm  of 
Biography;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that,  in  this  respect, 
the  previous  volumes  have  been  eminently  successful. 

There  is  something  in  life  that  makes  its  own  personal 
appeal  to  life.  The  living  man — -be  he  soldier,  sailor,  states- 
man or  hero — forms  a  fixed  and  abiding  center  around  which 
the  pupil  can  gather  the  prominent  events  of  the  country  to 
which  the  man  belongs. 

The  Conquest  of  Granada,  without  the  presence  and  in- 
terest of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella;  the  Discovery  of  America, 
without  the  life  story  of  Christopher  Columbus;  the  splendid 
achievements  of  Galileo  and  Newton,  apart  from  the  thril- 
ling incidents  in  the  lives  of  the  men  who  made  them;  or 
the  mere  record  of  the  winning  of  Italian  Independence  or 
of  our  own  Civil  War,  without  some  knowledge  of  Gari- 
baldi and  Lincoln;  these  will  not  long  endure  in  the  mind  of 
the  average  pupil.  liut  when  coupled  with  the  story  of  the 
sufferings  and  struggles,  the  sorrows  and  the  joys,  of  the 
men  who  were  the  living  heart  and  soul  of  these  movements, 


4  PREFACE 

the  narratives  become  infinitely  more  fascinating,  and  take 
a  deeper  hold  upon  the  mind,  memory  and  heart  of  each  in- 
dividual student;  and  this  holds  true  throughout  the  entire 
series. 

It  has  been  forcibly  pointed  out  in  fhe  preface  to  one  of 
the  earlier  volumes  of  this  series,  that  "the  child  almost 
unconsciously  identifies  himself  with  these  great  heroes  of 
the  past,  finds  himself  imagining  what  he  would  do  if  placed 
in  a  like  position,  and  living  their  lives  over  again  in  his 
own." 

There  can  be  no  quicker  method  of  gaining  the  pupil's 
attention,  and  no  surer  way  of  holding  it,  than  that  which  is 
here  attempted;  and  this  is  but  another  way  of  saying  that 
there  is  not,  and  cannot  be,  any  truer  or  better  method  of 
acquainting  young  people  with  the  great  facts  of  history 
than  that  which  gives  to  them  a  knowledge  of  the  men  ])y 
whom  the  history  has  been  made. 

The  numerous  and  beautiful  illustrations  running  through 
all  these  books  will  also  be  of  real  help  in  this  respect. 

The  study  of  history  through  biography  is  as  natural  as  is 
the  attainment  of  growth  and  strength  through  the  use  of 
proper  and  nourishing  food.  The  one  is  the  logical  out- 
come of  the  other. 

To  feel  the  thrill  of  life  in  history  destroys  all  the  dryness 
and  tedium  of  the  study,  and  is  a  valuable  help  to  teacher 
and  pupil  alike. 

These  books,  following  the  recommendations  of  the 
foremost  educators  of  our  times,  have  been  prepared  with 
this  end  in  view;  and  it  is  both  hoped  and  believed  that  they 
will  serve  this  useful  purpose. 

Acknowledgments  are  due  from  the  authors  to  the  Rev. 
W.  F.  Markwick,  D.  D.,  for  valuable  assistance  in  editing 
and  revising  the  manuscript  and  in  reading  the  proofs. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I 

Lorenzo  the  Magnificent 

II 

Christopher  Columbus 

III 

Ferdinand  of  Aragon  . 

IV 

Vasco  da  Gama 

V 

Chevalier  Bayard 

VI 

Cardinal  Wolsey    . 

VII 

Charles  V  of  Germany 

VIII 

Solyman  the  Sublime   . 

IX 

Sir  Francis  Drake 

X 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh     . 

XI 

Hen'ry  of  Navarre 

XII 

Wallenstein 

XIII 

GusTAVUs  Adolphus 

XIV 

Cardinal   Richelieu 

XV 

Galileo      .... 

XVT 

Olivkr  Cromwell    . 

XVII 

Louis  XIV 

7 

16 

31 

40 

58 

63 

74 

86 

96 

111 

123 

135 

140 

155 

165 

175 

185 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

PAGE 

XVIII 

Sir  Isaac  Newton  .       .       .       . 

196 

XIX 

William  III,  King  of  England 

205 

XX 

SOBIESKI      .... 

215 

XXI 

Peter  the  Great    . 

223 

XXII 

Charles  XII   of  Sweden 

233 

XXIII 

Frederick  the  Great 

243 

XXIV 

William  Pitt    . 

256 

XXV 

George  Washington 

26  i 

XXVI 

Robespierre 

280 

XXVII 

Napoleon  Bonaparte 

286 

XXVIII 

Horatio  Nelson     . 

299 

XXIX 

Thaddeus  Kosciusko 

310 

XXX 

Abraham  Lincoln  . 

316 

XXXI 

Garibaldi 

326 

XXXII 

William  Ewart  Gladstone 

334 

XXXIII 

Count  von  Bismarck 

344 

FAMOUS    MEN    OF 
MODERN  TIMES 


LORENZO  THE  MAGNIFICENT 

1449-1492 

The  thousand  years  between  the  downfall  of  the 
Roman  Empire  and  the  Discovery  of  America  are 
called  the  Middle  Ages — which  means  the  ages 
between  ancient  and  modern  times. 

This  was  a  very  stormy  period.  In  the  early 
part,  the  barbarians  overran  Europe  and  destroyed 
almost  every  sign  of  civilization.  They  were 
brought  under  some  control  through  the  efforts  of 
the  Church,  and,  as  time  advanced,  there  was 
progress  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life. 

Schools  were  established  in  monasteries,  and 
here  and  there  in  large  cities,  but  there  was  no 
general  popular  education  as  we  consider  it  now. 
This  is  not  so  strange,  for  there  were  no  printed 
books. 


8  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

The  printing  press  had  not  been  invented;  all 
books  at  that  time  were  manuscripts,  that  is  they 
were  written  by  hand,  for  that  is  what  the  word 
manuscript  means.  They  were  written  on  parch- 
ment, which  was  sheepskin  specially  prepared  so 
that  it  would  take  ink. 

Of  course  books  written  by  hand  were  expensive, 
for  it  took  a  great  deal  of  time  to  write  them. 
Most  of  the  people  in  Europe,  therefore,  lived  and 
died  without  ever  having  a  book  in  their  hands. 
In  only  a  few  of  the  largest  cities  and  monasteries 
was  it  possible  to  find  a  library  containing  as 
many  as  five  hundred  volumes. 

When  at  length  the  printing  press  was  invented, 
the  desire  for  knowledge  became  widely  spread. 
People  felt  that  they  must  have  books  to 
read,  and  to  study.  They  saw  the  necessity 
for  schools  in  which  their  children  might  be 
taught. 

Of  all  the  countries  of  Europe  none  was  more 
thoroughly  awakened  than  Italy;  and  among  the 
places  that  were  thus  aroused  to  a  desire  for  knowl- 
edge of  all  kinds,  one  of  the  first  was  the  city  of 
Florence.  Florence  early  became  the  home  of 
many  learned  men,  and  no  city  did  more  for  the 
enlightenment  of  Europe  than  she. 

Here  lived   the  famous  family   of  the    Medici 


LORENZO  THE  MAGNIFICENT  9 

(med'  e  chee) .  For  several  generations  the  Medici 
had  been  engaged  in  what  was  then  almost  the 
only  commerce  of  the  world.  This  was  trade  with 
India.  Caravans  of  camels  brought  silks  and 
shawls,  spices  and  precious  stones  from  the  far 
East  to  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  Ships 
transported  them  to  Florence.  Trains  of  pack 
horses  and  mules  carried  them  from  Florence 
across  the  passes  of  the  Alps  to  the  cities  of  north- 
ern and  western  Europe. 

This  traffic  had  made  the  Medici  very  wealthy; 
and  not  only  wealthy  but  powerful.  For  three 
hundred  years  the  family  ruled  the  city  and  people 
of  Florence.  But  it  was  not  their  wealth  alone 
that  gave  them  their  power.  Their  political  influ- 
ence based  on  industrial  conditions  was  great  also. 

The  city  was,  like  ancient  Athens,  a  state.  It 
made  its  own  laws,  and  had  the  right  to  coin  its 
own  money;  it  made  war  or  peace  with  foreign 
countries. 

The  government  of  the  state  was  republican. 
But  Florence  was  one  of  the  strangest  Uttle  re- 
publics that  ever  existed.  It  had  this  peculiar 
law,  that  no  man  should  hold  the  ofhcc  of  chief 
magistrate,  imless  he  belonged  to  one  of  the  guilds, 
or  ''arts"  as  they  were  called. 

These   were   about   the   same   as   our   modern 


10  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

trades  unions.  But  the  Florentines  had  even 
more  such  unions  than  we  have.  Not  only  were 
there  unions  of  carpenters  and  masons  and  others 
who  worked  with  their  hands,  the  people  who 
worked  with  their  heads  were  also  united.  There 
were  ''arts"  or  unions  of  the  bankers,  the  merch- 
ants, the  doctors,  and  the  lawyers. 

From  the  members  of  the  ''arts"  the  Florentines 
chose  their  officers.  The  government  of  the  city 
was  vested  in  the  "Great  Council  of  Nine."  These 
Nine  consisted  of  seven  who  were  head  workers, 
and  two  who  were  hand  workers.  This  arrange- 
ment brought  those  who  worked  with  their  heads 
and  those  who  worked  with  their  hands  very  close 
together.  It  caused  the  lawyers  and  merchants 
and  bankers  to  have  a  friendly  feeling  for  the 
carpenters  and  masons  and  others  who  made  their 
living  by  "the  sweat  of  their  brows;"  and  no  man 
could  long  be  ruler  in  Florence  who  did  not  love  the 
working  people. 

The  Medici  family  were  famed  for  doing  good 
with  their  money  among  the  people  of  Florence. 
And  therefore  one  after  another  of  them  found  it 
easy  either  to  be  made  the  "standard-bearer"  as 
the  president  of  the  republic  was  called ;  or  to  have 
men  put  into  office  who  would  carry  out  his  wishes. 

In  1449,  just  about  the  time  when  Europe  was 


I'anari 


LnUKyiZU  TUK  MAUMFK.ENT 


12  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

preparing  to  outer  upon  a  period  of  renewed 
activity,  one  of  the  Medici  line  was  born  who 
was  named  Lorenzo.  He  died  in  1492,  the  very 
year  in  which  Cohimbus  discovered  America. 

His  grandfather,  Cosimo  de  Medici  had  given 
many  fine  buildings  to  Florence,  among  which  was 
its  famous  cathedral. 

Lorenzo's  father  had  also  spent  immense  sums 
of  money  for  the  benefit  of  Florence.  He  had  been 
really  the  ruler  of  the  city  for  many  years,  although 
he  very  seldom  held  the  office  of  standard-bearer, 
or  had  any  official  title. 

When  he  died  the  people  of  Florence  desired 
that  another  Medici  should  manage  the  republic, 
and  therefore  they  invited  Lorenzo  to  do  for  them 
as  his  father  had  done.  He  accepted  their  in- 
vitation, and  became  their  ruler. 

He  proved  to  be  much  like  the  famous  Athe- 
nian, Pisistratus — a  tyrant  who  was  not  tyrannical. 
He  ruled  for  the  welfare  of  the  people.  He  did 
not  think  that  the  first  duty  of  a  good  ruler  was 
to  make  his  people  soldiers. 

He  saw  that  the  best  thing  to  be  done  for  the 
Florentines  was  to  enlighten  them — to  furnish 
them  with  books  and  schools. 

But  where  were  books  to  be  procured?  There 
were  monasteries  in  various  parts  of  Europe  in 


LORENZO  THE  MAGNIFICENT  13 

which  were  large  numbers  of  books;  and  among 
these  were  manuscripts  of  many  works  of  the  old 
Greeks  and  Romans.  But  the  principal  hiding- 
place  of  manuscripts,  especially  those  of  Greek 
writers,  was  Constantinople.  And  it  happened 
in  a  very  strange  way  that  the  books  of  Con- 
stantinople were  at  that  very  time  being  brought 
to  Western  Europe. 

The  inhabitants  of  Constantinople  were  Greeks. 
They  read  the  \ATi tings  of  Homer  and  Plato, 
and  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, in  the  original  Greek. 

The  Turks  who  had  long  been  menacing  the 
city  cared  nothing  for  Homer  and  Plato;  and  they 
hated  the  books  of  the  New  Testament.  They 
thought  that  men  needed  no  book  but  the  Koran 
of  Mohammed.  ]\Iany  of  them  believed  that  no 
one  ought  to  read  any  other  book. 

At  length,  in  1453,  Constantinople  was  actually 
taken  by  the  Turks,  and  a  great  number  of  its 
people  escaped  and  went  forth  to  seek  new  and 
peaceful  homes  in  Western  Europe.  Many  went 
to  Italy;  and  of  these,  several  found  their  way  to 
Florence. 

Some  of  these  men  Ijiought  manuscripts  with 
them;  and  they  told  their  new  Italian  friends 
that  others  might  l)o  ol)tained  in  Constantinople, 


14  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

After  this  the  Medici,  and  men  like  them,  carried 
on  for  years  a  diligent  search  for  books.  They 
sent  men  to  the  monasteries  of  Italy,  Germany,  and 
England,  and  to  Constantinople  to  purchase 
whatever  ancient  manuscripts  they  could  find. 
One  of  those  who  went  to  the  old  Eastern  capital 
brought  back  two  hundred  and  thirty-eight, 
among  which  were  the  writings  of  Plato  and  Xeno- 
phon,  who  lived  in  Athens  four  hundred  years 
before  Christ. 

Lorenzo  caused  many  of  the  old  manuscripts 
to  be  copied;*  and,  what  was  better,  he  had  them 
printed.  For  just  before  Lorenzo's  birth,  Guten- 
berg had  perfected  his  printing  press;  and,  three 
years  after  Lorenzo  was  born,  the  first  book  printed 
in  Florence  had  made  its  appearance.  It  was  an 
edition  of  Vergil,  the  great  Latin  poet;  and  very 
likely  Lorenzo  used  a  copy  of  it  when  he  studied 
Latin. 

He  lived  to  see  books  wonderfully  multiplied. 
By  the  time  he  was  thirty  years  old,  Vergil  and 
Horace,  Homer  and  Xenophon  could  be  printed 
so  cheaply  that  they  were  bought  for  school  boys. 

Like  other  merchant  princes  of  the  time,  Lorenzo 
established  a  famous  school  in  Florence.  It  was  a 
Greek  high  school.  So  many  learned  men  gradu- 
ated from  it  and  became  celebrated  teachers,  that 


LORENZO  THE  MAGNIFICENT  15 

the  people  said  it  was  like  the  wooden  horse  at  the 
siege  of  Troy,  out  of  which  came  so  many  Greek 
warriors  fully  armed  for  the  fight. 

Although  Lorenzo  was  called  ''The  Magnificent" 
by  the  people  of  Florence,  and  was  apparently 
so  generous  toward  them,  yet  Florence  was  not 
really  enriched  by  him.  He  only  made  it  grander 
and  more  famous  by  his  administration,  but  he 
completed  that  subversion  of  the  Florentine 
republic  for  which  his  father  and  his  grandfather 
had  well  prepared  the  way. 

Florence,  although  so  splendid,  was  full  of  cor- 
ruption, her  rulers  violating  oaths,  betraying 
trusts,  and  living  only  for  pleasure.  From  the 
days  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici  her  power  has  steadily 
declined. 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS 

1435-1506 

One  day  in  the  autumn  of  1486  a  stranger 
knocked  at  the  gate  of  a  convent  called  ''La 
Rabida/'  not  far  from  the  little  Spanish  seaport 
of  Palos.  He  held  by  the  hand  a  little  boy,  and 
when  the  monk  who  opened  the  door  asked  what 
was  wanted  he  answered/  ''My  child  and  I  are 
tired  and  hungry.  Will  you  give  us  a  morsel  of 
bread,  and  let  us  rest  here  awhile?" 

They  were  invited  to  enter,  and  food  was  set 
before  them.  During  the  meal  the  stranger 
began  to  talk  about  the  Western  Ocean  and  what 
must  be  on  the  other  side  of  it.  "Most  men,"  he 
said,  "think  that  beyond  the  Azores  there  is 
nothing  but  a  sea  of  darkness;  but  I  believe  that 
beyond  those  islands  there  is  another  and  a  larger 
land." 

The  prior  of  the  convent,  and  the  physician  of 
Palos  who  happened  to  be  present,  were  greatly 
interested  in  what  their  visitor  had  to  say,  and 
asked  him  to  tell  them  his  name  and  something 
of  his  history. 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS  17 

''I  am  called  Christopher  Columbus,"  he  said. 

''I  was  born  in  Genoa,  and  there  my  boyhood  was 
spent.  I  loved  when  a  child  to  watch  the  sailors 
haul  up  the  anchor  and  let  loose  the  sails  when  a 
ship  began  her  voyage.  ]\Iy  play  was  to  learn  the 
names  of  the  ropes  and  find  out  what  each  was  for. 

''My  father  sent  me  to  the  University  of  Pavia; 
and  there  I  learned  about  the  stars  that  guide  the 
seaman  on  his  way.  I  also  learned  to  draw  maps 
and  charts.  While  drawing  those  maps  I  used  to 
wonder  whether  there  was  not  some  land  beyond 
the  Canaries  and  the  Azores. 

''  At  fifteen  I  became  a  sailor.  I  went  on  voyages 
to  England  and  Ireland,  to  Greece  and  elsewhere. 
On  one  of  my  voyages  our  ship  was  wrecked  on 
the  rocky  coast  of  Portugal,  but  I  got  to  land  by 
the  help  of  a  plank.  I  stayed  awhile  in  Portugal, 
and  there  I  married  the  daughter  of  a  sea  captain 
who  was  the  governor  of  Porto  Santo,  one  of  the 
Madeira  Islands. 

''I  afterwards  idsited  Porto  Santo,  and  there 
I  met  many  men  whose  fives  were  spent  in  sailing 
the  sea.  They  told  me  some  wonderful  tales. 
One  said  that  a  Portuguese  pilot  named  Martin 
Vincente  had  picked  up  at  sea,  twelve  hundred 
miles  west  of  Portugal,  a  piece  of  strange  wood 
that  had  been  carved  l>y  (he  hand  of  man.     My 

HAAHEN-M.T.-2 


18  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

brother-in-law  said  that  he  had  seen  at  Porto 
Santo  great  pieces  of  jointed  canes;  and  that  a 
friend  had  told  him  about  two  human  bodies 
which  had  been  washed  up  at  Flores,  '  very  broad- 
faced'  and  not  at  all  like  Christians. 

''AH  these  things  made  me  believe  more  firmly 
in  the  idea  of  a  land  to  the  westward;  and  at 
length  I  determined  to  find  that  land. 

''But  I  was  poor.  I  could  not  buy  a  ship  nor 
pay  a  crew.  I  went  to  my  native  Genoa,  where 
the  masts  in  the  harbor  rise  as  close  as  the  trees 
in  a  wood.  I  explained  my  plans  to  the  rich 
merchants  there,  and  begged  them  to  help  me. 
But  my  countrymen  were  afraid  to  send  any  vessel 
of  theirs  beyond  the  Azores.  They  thought  that 
west  of  those  islands,  there  was  nothing  but  the 
'Sea  of  Darkness.' 

"I  went  to  Lisbon  and  asked  the  Portuguese 
king  for  help.  Again  I  was  disappointed;  but  I 
was  not  discouraged. 

"I  then  came  to  Spain,  and  at  last  the  good 
Queen  Isabella  heard  my  story.  A  council  of 
learned  men  was  called  to  consider  my  plan. 
They  said  it  was  wild,  and  advised  her  Majesty  to 
give  me  no  aid. 

"Thus,  I  am  again  disappointed.  The  little 
money  that  I  had  is  spent,  and  I  am  a  beggar.     It 


20  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

seems  as  if  the  world  is  against  me.  Yet  I  am 
sure  that  there  is  a  land  beyond  the  sea." 

The  prior,  the  physician,  and  the  monks  who 
had  gathered  about  Columbus  were  much  in- 
terested. Father  Perez,  one  of  the  monks,  had 
been  confessor  to  Queen  Isabella,  and  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  her  begging  that  she  would  see  Columbus 
again.  She  consented,  and  Columbus  went  from 
the  convent  to  the  palace  to  see  her. 

The  queen  again  refused  his  request,  and  Colum- 
bus set  out  for  France  hoping  that  the  king  of  that 
country  might  help  him.  But  one  of  the  officers 
of  Isabella's  court  persuaded  her  to  change  her 
mind,  and  a  messenger  was  sent  to  bring  Columbus 
back  into  the  royal  presence. 

King  Ferdinand  and  Queen  Isabella  were  in 
camp  at  Santa  Fe  near  Granada,  which  they  had 
but  lately  captured  from  the  Moors;  and  there 
they  signed  an  agreement  to  supply  Columbus 
with  two  ships,  and  to  pay  the  crews. 

It  was  easy  for  the  sovereigns  to  promise  crews 
and  to  pay  them;  but  it  was  very  hard  to  find 
men  who  were  willing  to  sail  on  such  a  voyage. 
Even  the  criminals  who  were  promised  pardon 
if  they  would  go,  refused.  To  sail  into  the  ''Sea 
of  Darkness"  seemed  certain  death  to  them. 

At  last,  however,  all  difficulties  were  overcome. 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS  21 

Two  wealthy  gentlemen  added  a  third  ship  to  the 
two  supplied  by  the  king  and  cjueen;  and  the 
wonderful  ^'oyage  began.  The  Santa  Maria  with 
a  crew  of  fifty  men  was  commanded  by  Columbus 
himself;  the  Pinta  with  thirty  men  was  in  charge 
of  Martin  Pinzon;  and  the  Nina  or  "Baby"  with 
twenty-four  men  was  commanded  by  Martin's 
brother,  Vincente  Pinzon. 

At  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  August  3, 
1492,  the  sails  were  hoisted,  and  the  little  expedi- 
tion left  the  harbor  of  Palos. 

On  the  third  day  out,  the  Pinta  lost  her  rudder. 
Fortunately  they  were  then  not  far  from  the 
Canary  Islands.  They  therefore  steered  for  Tener- 
iffe  where  they  had  the  vessel  repaired. 

When  they  had  sailed  about  six  weeks  they 
were  astonished  to  find  that  the  magnetic  needle 
varied  from  its  usual  direction.  Soon  after  ob- 
serving this,  they  reached  a  part  of  the  ocean  where 
a  great  field  of  seaweed  lay  all  around  them.  This 
w^s  what  is  called  the  "  Sargasso  Sea,"  and  the  ships 
of  Columbus  were  the  first  that  ever  sailed  across  it. 

They  ol)served  another  strange  thing.  The 
wind  in  this  part  of  the  ocean  blew  steadily,  night 
and  day,  to  the  westward.  It  was  the  northeast 
trade  wind,  which  was  unknown  to  sailors  along 
the  coast  and  in  the  inland  seas. 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS  23 

They  had  excellent  weather ;  but  the  men  began 
to  be  fearful  lest  they  could  never  beat  back 
against  the  trade  wind;  and  it  was  hard  to  keep 
them  in  good  spirits. 

Happily,  soon  afterward,  they  saw  some  birds, 
and  that  made  them  sure  that  land  was  not  far 
off.  Then  the  Pinta  fished  up  a  fragment  of 
sugar  cane  and  a  log  of  wood;  and  the  Nina 
sighted  a  green  branch  covered  with  dog-rose 
flowers. 

At  ten  o'clock  one  night,  Columbus  saw  a  light 
ahead;  and  the  next  morning  they  landed  on  one 
of  the  Bahama  Islands.  Which  island  this  was 
we  are  not  quite  sure ;  but  it  was  probably  the  one 
which  the  natives  called  Guanahani.  Columbus 
named  it  San  Salvador. 

When  Columbus  stepped  from  his  boat  he  carried 
with  him  the  royal  banner  of  Spain.  Kneeling 
upon  the  shore  with  his  companions,  he  kissed 
the  ground,  gave  thanks  to  God,  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  land  in  the  name  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella. 

The  expedition  afterwards  discovered  the  islands 
of  Cuba,  Haiti  and  others  of  the  West  India  group. 

On  the  shore  of  Haiti  the  Santa  Maria  went 
aground  and  became  a  wreck.  With  (lie  two 
remaining  vessels,  Columbus  soon  nflcrwards  set 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS  25 

sail  for  Spain,  and  on  the  loth  of  March,  1493, 
he  dropped  anchor  in  the  port  of  Palos. 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  then  at  Barcelona, 
and  they  received  him  with  great  honor.  He 
showed  them  curious  plants  and  gayly-colored 
parrots,  and,  more  interesting  than  these,  nine 
natives  whom  he  had  brought  from  the  newly- 
discovered  islands. 

There  was  now  no  doubt  that  Columbus  was 
right,  and  that  the  ''Sea  of  Darkness"  beyond  the 
Azores  was  only  a  dream. 

It  was  determined  that  Columbus  should  make 
another  expedition.  In  six  months  seventeen 
vessels  and  fifteen  hundred  men  were  ready  to 
sail,  and  the  second  great  voyage  was  begun.  It 
was  on  this  voyage  that  Jamaica,  Porto  Rico,  and 
several  smaller  islands  were  discovered. 

Most  of  the  fifteen  hundred  men,  however, 
went  with  Columbus,  not  in  the  hope  of  discover- 
ing new  lands,  but  for  the  purpose  of  colonizing 
the  island  of  Haiti.  Columbus  had  learned  on 
his  first  voyage  that  on  that  island  there  were 
deposits  of  gold;  so  now  a  mining  town  was 
founded  in  the  gold  region  of  Haiti,  and  the  work 
of  digging  was  begun.  But  the  Spaniards  were 
not  fond  of  work.  \hcy  therefore  made  slaves 
of    tlic    natixcs   and    forced    (licni    lo    dig    in    tlie 


26  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

mines;  and  a  large  quantity  of  gold  was  secured. 

Some  of  the  greedy  colonists  thought  of  another 
and  easier  way  of  making  money.  They  captured 
a  number  of  the  natives  and  sent  them  to  Spain 
to  be  sold  as  slaves ;  and,  strange  to  say,  Columbus 
permitted  this. 

When  Queen  Isabella  heard  of  it  she  was  very 
angry  with  Columbus,  and  asked  him  who  had 
given  him  the  right  to  make  slaves  of  her  subjects. 
She  comriianded  that  every  one  of  the  Indians 
should  be  made  free  and  sent  home. 

This  enslaving  of  the  Indians  was  the  beginning 
of  the  downfall  of  Columbus.  Isabella  never 
afterwards  felt  toward  him  as  she  had  before. 

However,  when  he  returned  to  Spain  he  related 
a  pitiful  tale  about  the  sufferings  of  the  colonists 
in  Haiti;  and  the  queen  furnished  him  with  sup- 
plies for  them,  and  pro\dded  a  fleet  of  six  vessels 
with  which  he  set  sail  on  May  30,  1498. 

On  this  third  voyage  a  new  land  was  discovered. 
One  day,  three  hill-tops  were  seen  rising  out  of 
the  sea,  and  soon  the  ships  approached  a  large 
island.  Columbus  called  it,  from  its  three  peaks, 
Trinidad,  and  the  island  is  still  known  by  that 
name. 

From  Trinidad  they  sailed  to  the  southwest 
until  they  approached  another  shore.     Columbus 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS 


27 


had  now  discovered  the  southern  grand  division 
of  the  New  World,  but  he  did  not  know  this.  He 
supposed  that  the  land  was  only  another  island. 
He  was  anxious  to  get  back  to  the  colony  on  the 
island  of  Haiti,  and  so,  sailing  now  to  the  north- 
ward, the  ships  in  due  time  reached  their  harbor. 


COLUMBUS  IN   CHAINS 


Mar,,h„l 


In  Haiti  there  were  men  plotting  against  Colum- 
bus. Some  of  the  colonists  who  had  not  found  so 
much  gold  as  they  had  hoped  for,  returned  to 
Spain  and  complained  to  the  king  that  Columbus 
was  managing  the  colony  badl}-. 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  partly  believed  what 
they   said.     As   Columbus   had    done    one    wrong 


28  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

thing  when  he  made  slaves  of  the  Indians,  the 
king  and  queen  thought  he  might  do  wrong  in 
other  things. 

Accordingly,  they  sent  to  Haiti  a  man  named 
Bobadilla  (bo  ba  deel'  ya)  to  take  charge  of  the 
colony;  and  Bobadilla  on  his  arrival,  accused 
Columbus  of  cruelty  and  injustice,  and  sent  him 
to  Spain  in  chains.  The  captain  of  the  vessel  in 
which  he  sailed  wished  to  remove  these  fetters, 
but  Columbus  would  not  allow  him  to  do  so.  He 
wore  them  to  the  end  of  the  voyage,  and  kept  them 
as  relics  ever  afterwards. 

As  soon  as  the  vessel. reached  Spain,  Columbus 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  king  and  queen  telling  them 
what  he  had  done,  and  what  had  been  done  to 
him.  When  Isabella  read  it,  she  is  said  to  have 
shed  tears.  His  fetters  were  at  once  removed; 
and  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  refused  to  Hsten  to 
the  charges  which  Bobadilla  had  made  against  him. 

Columbus  never  so  much  as  imagined  that  he  had 
discovered  a  new  continent.  He  supposed  that 
Cuba,  Jamaica,  and  the  other  islands  which  he 
visited  were  some  of  what  are  called  the  ''Indies", 
or  islands  near  India.  For  a  long  time  everybody 
else  supposed  so  too;  and  hence  it  is  that  Cuba 
and  the  neighboring  islands  have  always  been 
called  the  West  Indies. 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS  29 

About  this  time,  the  Pope  divided  between 
Spain  and  Portugal  all  the  newly-discovered 
lands,  and  all  that  might  afterwards  be  dis- 
covered. The  di^^ding  line  was  a  meridian  pass- 
ing three  hundred  leagues  west  of  the  Azores. 
Spain's  share  was  all  that  lay  west  of  this  meri- 
dian, and  Portugal's  all  that  lay  east  of  it. 

Spain  was  jealous  of  Portugal,  and  anxious 
to  secure  a  part  of  that  kingdom's  share.  Colum- 
bus suggested  a  way  to  do  this.  He  assured 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  that  by  sailing  still  farther 
to  the  westward,  beyond  the  West  Indies,  it 
would  be  possible  to  reach  some  of  the  islands 
which  might  be  claimed  by  Portugal;  and  of 
course  he  was  correct  in  this  view. 

He  asked  the  sovereigns  for  a  fleet  with  which 
to  make  the  attempt;  and  in  1502,  with  four  ships 
and  a  hundred  and  fifty  men,  he  set  sail  from 
Cadiz.  On  the  voyage  he  landed  at  Jamaica  and 
other  islands;  but  although  he  was  absent  more 
than  two  years,  he  accomplished  nothing  of  im- 
portance. 

He  returned  to  Spain  in  1504,  and  died  two 
years  later. 

His  body  was  buried  at  Valladolid  (val  ya  do 
leed'),  but  was  afterwards  carried  across  the  ocean 
and  interred  in  the  cathedral  of  Santo  Domingo 


30  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

on  the  island  of  Haiti.  When  that  island  was 
ceded  by  the  Spaniards  to  France,  the  remains 
of  the  great  navigator  were  removed  to  Havana; 
and  there  they  rested  until  after  the  war  between 
the  United  States  and  Spain,  when  they  were 
taken  back   to   Spain. 


FERDINAND  OF  ARAGON 

1452-1516 

Ferdinand  of  Aragon  was  the  son  of  John  II, 
king  of  the  Spanish  provinces  of  Navarre  and 
Aragon. 

For  centuries  before  Ferdinand's  time  Spain 
had  been  di\ided  into  a  number  of  petty  kingdoms. 
Some  of  them  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Christians 
and  the  rest  belonged  to  the  Moors  whose  an- 
cestors were  partly  Arabs  and  partly  people  of 
North  Africa. 

The  Moors  were  Mohammedans.  About  seven 
hundred  years  before  the  time  of  Ferdinand  they 
had  crossed  the  Mediterranean  Sea  and  invaded 
Spain,  capturing  nearly  the  whole  of  that  country 
with  the  exception  of  the  provinces  which  lay  in 
the  extreme  north. 

For  a  long  time,  therefore,  Spain  was  a  Moham- 
medan country.  But  the  Spanish  Christians  be- 
came more  numerous  and  more  powerful;  and, 
during  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  they  were  almost 
continually  at  war  with  their  Moorish  neighbors. 

At  the  time  that  Ferdinand  was  born  they  had 


32  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

regained   all   Spain   except   the   one   kingdom   of 
Granada. 

In  Granada,  several  thousand  Moors  still  lived. 
They  irrigated  the  land  and  cultivated  rice.  They 
planted  mulberry  trees  and  were  famed  for  their 


ITY   OF  GRANADA 


production  of  silk.  They  even  grew  sugar  cane, 
and  were  the  first  to  make  Europeans  acquainted 
with  sugar.  The  beautiful  city  of  Granada  was 
their  capital  and  great  stronghold  at  the  time  when 
Ferdinand  became  king ;  and  even  to-day  travelers 
go  by  thousands  to  see  the  remains  of  its  splendid 
palaces. 

Ferdinand  married  Isabella  who  was  the  queen 


LION    COURT    OF   THE    ALHAMBHA,    GKANAUA 


HAAIIF.N-M  T.-3 


34  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

of  Castile;  so  that  under  these  two  sovereigns 
three  of  the  Christian  kingdoms  of  Spain — Aragon, 
Navarre  and  Castile — ^were  united. 

It  seemed  to  them,  however,  a  disgrace  to 
Christianity,  as  well  as  an  injury  to  Spain,  that 
there  should  be  a  Mohammedan  kingdom  in  their 
country.  They  therefore  determined  to  add 
Granada  to  their  domains  and  a  bitter  war  against 
the  Moors  was  begun. 

General  Gonsalvo,  a  famous  soldier,  whom  the 
Spaniards  still  deligjit  to  call  'Hhe  great  captain" 
was  put  in  command  of  the  Spanish  army. 

Granada  was  invaded.  Sallies  were  made  by 
the  Moors;  and  many  single  combats  were  fought 
between  their  champions  and  the  Christian  knights. 
But  no  great  battle  was  fought,  and  the  war 
continued  for  months. 

At  one  time  the  Spanish  camp  of  tents  took  fire 
by  accident  and  was  destroyed.  A  permanent 
town  with  houses  of  stone  was  then  built  by 
Ferdinand  for  his  army.  The  town  still  stands, 
and  is  called  Santa  Fe. 

When  the  Moorish  king,  who  was  named  Boabdil 
(bo  ab'  deel),  heard  that  King  Ferdinand  had 
threatened  to  take  Granada,  he  laughed  in  scorn; 
nevertheless,  he  at  once  made  ready  to  defend  his 
city. 


36  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

The  war  lasted  more  than  ten  years.  The 
Moors  defended  themselves  bravely;  but  the 
Spaniards  devastated  the  fruitful  lands  of  their 
country,  totally  destroyed  twenty-four  of  their 
principal  towns,  and  then  besieged  the  city  of 
Granada  itself. 

The  Moors  held  out  bravely  for  almost  a  year; 
then,  being  on  the  verge  of  starvation,  they  sur- 
rendered Granada. 

It  was  agreed  that  Boabdil  should  reign  over  a 
small  territory,  and  should  do  homage  to  Ferdi- 
nand for  it.  He  soon  grew  tired  of  his  little 
kingdom,  however,  and  crossed  the  Mediterranean 
to  Africa,  where,  not  long  afterwards,  he  perished 
in  battle.  He  was  the  last  of  the  Moorish  kings 
of  Spain. 

The  year  1492  proved  to  be  a  memorable  one 
for  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  for  the  country 
which  they  governed.  It  began  with  the  con- 
quest of  Granada;  and  it  ended  in  seeing  Spain's 
condition  wonderfully  improved  in  almost  every 
particular. 

For  two  hundred  years  the  Turks  had  been  the 
terror  of  Christendom.  Christians  who  traded 
with  India  were  obliged  to  sail  across  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea,  and  to  pass  through  lands  that 
belonged   to   the  Turks   to  reach   that   country. 


l''.,l.,.l,..!,.u,X 


AiTtU  A  MUUUlSJll    VlCTOU\ 


38  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

They  had  also  to  bring  back  through  those  lands 
and  across  the  Mediterranean  whate\^er  goods 
they  bought  in  India. 

Their  ships  and  cargoes  were  often  captured  by 
Turkish  pirates,  and  the  owners  and  crews  were 
made  slaves.  Thousands  of  such  Christian  slaves 
were  chained  to  the  rowing  benches  of  the  Turkish 
galleys  and  were  cruelly  whipped  if  they  did  not 
obey  their  masters. 

The  people  of  those  times  wished  to  find  a  way 
by  which  to  reach  India  without  encountering 
these  difficulties  and  dangers.  More  than  once 
did  the  different  nations  of  Europe  join  together 
to  make  war  against  the  Turks.  Ferdinand  him- 
self, after  taking  Granada  from  the  Moors,  sent  a 
fleet  across  the  Mediterranean  and  captured 
Algiers,  the  great  stronghold  of  the  Turkish 
pirates. 

Many  Italian,  Spanish  and  Portuguese  Chris- 
tians who  had  been  slaves  for  years  came  home, 
most  of  them  sick,  and  all  of  them  poor.  You 
can  imagine  how  the  sight  of  them,  when  they 
landed,  made  the  people  wish  for  some  safer  way 
to  India.  When,  therefore,  Columbus  offered  to 
find  one,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  supplied  him 
with  money  and  ships  and  men. 

He  did  not,  indeed,  find  a  new  way  to  India, 


FERDINAND   OF  ARAGON  39 

but  he  thought  he  had  done  so,  and  so  did  the 
king  and  queen.  The  people  of  Spain,  and  of 
Europe  generally,  rejoiced  at  the  thought  that 
trade  with  India  could  in  futm^e  be  carried  on 
without  so  great  a  loss  of  Hfe  and  treasure. 

While  Columbus  failed  in  this  one  important 
point,  his  discoveries  were  of  great  value  to  Spain, 
for  they  gave  her  immense  possessions  in  the 
''new  world"  and  added  largely  to  her  wealth 
and  power. 

Ferdinand  was  at  first  rather  cold  toward  Colum- 
bus. He  did  not  have  much  faith  either  in  the 
great  discoverer  or  in  his  plans.  The  real  credit 
of  Spain's  assistance  belongs  far  more  to  Queen 
Isabella  than  to  King  Ferdinand.  But  by  con- 
solidating and  strengthening  his  dominions,  Ferdi- 
nand lifted  Spain  into  a  prominent  position  among 
the  European  nations;  and  his  influence  was  felt 
for  many  years  after  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  1516. 


VASCO  DA  GAMA 
1469-1524 

One  day  in  the  year  1497  King  Manuel  of  Portu- 
gal was  at  work  in  his  study.  It  was  five  years 
since  Columbus  had  brought  the  news  to  Ferdi- 
nand of  Aragon  that  a  way  to  the  Indies  had  been 
discovered  by  sailing  westward;  for  Columbus,  as 
we  have  learned,  supposed  that  the  islands  on 
which  he  had  landed  were  some  of  the  East  India 
islands.  Manuel  was  busy  planning  an  expedition 
which  he  hoped  might  discover  a  passage  to  the 
Indies  by  sailing  eastward. 

A  nobleman  entered  the  room  where  he  was 
sitting.  ^'Vasco  da  Gama/'  said  the  king  when 
he  saw  him,  ''I  make  you  captain  of  my  expedi- 
tion. Take  any  one  of  the  ships  you  please,  and 
let  your  brother  command  another.  If  it  please 
God,  you  will  discover  India." 

Three  ships,  not  larger  than  the  schooners  which 
sail  up  and  down  our  rivers,  were  lying  at  anchor 
in  the  harbor  of  Lisbon.  They  were  named  after  the 
three  archangels,  Michael,  Gabriel,  and  Raphael. 
They  were  laden  with  everything  which  the  king 
and  Vasco  thought  might  be  useful  on  a  voyage 


VASCO  DA  GAMA  41 

of  discovery,  and  among  the  men  who  were  to 
sail  in  them  were  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  rope 
makers,  and  such  other  skilled  workmen  as  were 
likely  to  be  of  service. 

WTien  the  vessels  were  ready  to  start,  a  solemn 
service  was  held  in  the  great  cathedral  of  Lisbon. 
All  who  were  going  on  the  expedition  were  there. 
The  king  and  queen  were  also  present;  and  when 
the  bishop  had  pronounced  the  blessing,  the  king 
presented  to  ^'asco  da  Gama  the  royal  standard. 
''Let  it  fly,"  he  said,  ''at  the  masthead  of  your 
ship." 

From  the  cathedral,  Vasco  and  his  men  marched 
to  the  harbor.  The  ships  were  decorated  with 
flags,  and  the  king's  standard  was  run  up  at  the 
masthead  of  the  one  which  Vasco  was  to  com- 
mand. Guns  were  fired,  the  anchors  were  heaved, 
the  sails  were  loosed,  and  the  little  fleet  floated 
down  to  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

There  in  the  port  of  Belem  they  waited  three 
days  for  a  fair  wind,  and  then  the  voyage  began. 
A  Portuguese  writer  says,  "So  many  tears  were 
shed  when  they  were  sailing  away  that  the  shore 
may  well  be  named  the  shore  of  tears;"  and 
Camoens,  the  great  poet  of  Portugal  wrote, 
"Uncounted  as  the  grains  of  golflen  sand, 
The  teal's  of  t  housands  fell  on  I  )('l('in's  st  raiul," 


42  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

The  ships  were  so  long  sailing  down  the  coast  of 
Africa  that  the  sailors  became  discouraged.  They 
insisted  that  the  land  must  extend  entirely  across 
the  sea,  and  that  it  had  no  end. 

Vasco  da  Gama  knew  that  it  had  an  end;  for 
another  great  na\dgator,  named  Bartholomew 
Diaz,  had  already  found  the  end  and  called  it  the 
^'Cape  of  Storms,"  because  of  the  very  bad 
weather  he  had  encountered  there. 

Near  this  cape  Vasco  also  met  with  storms, 
and  his  men  wished  to  turn  back.  But,  like 
Columbus,  Vasco  was  determined  to  go  on.  Some 
of  the  men  formed  a  conspiracy  to  kill  him,  and 
he  was  obliged  to  put  the  mutineers  in  irons.  At 
length,  they  doubled  the  cape,  sailed  to  the  north- 
eastward, and  left  the  storms  behind  them. 

The  ships  had  been  greatly  damaged  by  the 
winds  and  waves.  They  were  leaking  badly, 
and  the  sailors  had  to  work  at  the  pumps  night 
and  day.  Wearied  and  disheartened  they  again 
requested  that  the  voyage  might  be  given  up,  and 
that  they  might  be  allowed  to  return  to  their 
homes. 

Vasco  saw  that  the  ships  must  be  repaired, 
and,  besides  this,  all  were  in  need  of  water.  He 
therefore  steered  toward  the  land  and  kept  a 
sharp  lookout  for  a  safe  harbor. 


(4„; 


THE  CONSI'IUACV 


44  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

If  you  look  at  the  map  of  Africa,  you  will  see 
that  part  of  the  southeast  coast  is  called  Natal, 
(na  talO .  This  is  the  Portuguese  name  for  Christ- 
mas Day.  Vasco  named  this  part  of  the  coast 
Natal  because  he  sailed  past  it  on  that  day. 

Farther  on,  the  voyagers  were  delighted  to  see 
the  mouth  of  a  river.  Steering  into  it,  and  sail- 
ing some  distance  up  the  stream,  they  found  a 
place  where  they  could  land.  There  they  stayed 
some  time  and  repaired  their  ships.  One,  how- 
ever, was  so  battered  and  broken  that  she  could 
not  be  made  seaworthy;  they  therefore  took  her 
to  pieces  and  used  the  wood  to  repair  the  other 
two. 

Vasco  named  this  stream  the  '^  River  of  Mercy." 

One  day  some  of  the  natives  came  to  visit  them. 
The  sailors  offered  them  slices  of  bread  with 
marmalade;  but  their  visitors  did  not  taste  a 
morsel  until  they  saw  the  Portuguese  eating. 
When  they  had  once  tasted,  it  seemed  as  though 
they  would  never  have  enough. 

Da  Gama  showed  them  a  looking-glass,  a  thing 
they  had  never  seen  before.  They  were  greatly 
amused,  and  laughed  loudly  when  they  saw  their 
faces  reflected  in  it. 

SaiUng  from  the  River  of  Mercy,  Vasco  steered 
northward,    keeping    always    in    sight    of    land. 


VASCO  DA  GAMA  45 

After  some  days  he  saw  a  ship  at  anchor  and  at 
once  sent  a  boat  to  find  out  where  he  was.  But 
the  native  sailors  were  afraid,  and  jumping  into  a 
canoe  paddled  away  as  fast  as  they  could. 

The  Portuguese  boat  soon  overtook  them,  and 
then  all  but  one  of  the  natives  threw  themselves 
into  the  sea  and  swam  to  shore.  The  one  man 
remaining  in  the  canoe  could  not  swim,  and  so  the 
Portuguese  took  him  on  board  one  of  their  ships. 
He  proved  to  be  a  Moor,  and  as  he  was  able  to 
act  as  an  interpreter,  he  became  very  useful  to 
them. 

Not  long  after  this  another  vessel  was  seen. 
She  was  under  full  sail,  but  Vasco's  ship  soon  came 
up  with  her.  Two  negroes  on  board  the  strange 
vessel  spoke  a  language  that  some  of  the  negroes 
on  the  ships  of  the  Portuguese  understood;  and 
from  them  they  learned  that  she  was  on  her  way 
to  a  harbor  of  India  called  Cambay.  This  was 
good  news  to  da  Gama,  and  they  followed  her 
into  an  African  harbor  called  Mozaml)i([ue  (mo 
zam  beek')- 

It  was  now  nearly  a  year  since  they  had  sailed 
from  Lisbon;  and  all  were  delighted  to  enter  a 
port  where  they  could  see  houses  and  peoi)le. 

Soon  {ifter  they  came  to  anchor.  I  he  slioik  or 
governor  of  the  city  of  Mozanil)i(|ti('  p;ii<l  llicni  a 


46         FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

visit.  He  came  upon  two  canoes  lashed  together, 
poles  and  planks  being  placed  upon  them  to  make 
a  floor,  above  which  was  stretched  a  large  piece  of 
matting.  Under  the  matting  sat  the  sheik  and 
ten  companions.  The  sheik  wore  a  jacket  of  velvet ; 
a  blue  cloth  embroidered  with  threads  of  gold 
was  wrapped  round  his  body;  and  a  silken 
sash  was  tied  round  his  waist.  A  dagger  was 
stuck  in  his  sash,  and  he  carried  a  sword  in  his 
hand. 

When  he  reached  the  ships  trumpets  were 
sounded,  and  Vasco  and  his  officers  greeted  him 
with  the  heartiest  welcome.  The  Moor  inter- 
preted everything  that  they  said,  or  that  the 
Portuguese  said  to  them. 

The  sheik  asked  the  Portuguese  of  what  mer- 
chandise they  were  in  search.  Thereupon  they 
showed  him  some  pepper,  cinnamon  and  ginger. 
He  then  promised  to  send  pilots  who  would  steer 
their  vessels  to  India;  and  after  he  left  the  ships 
two  men  came  on  board  who  said  they  had  been 
sent  for  that  purpose. 

Before  the  Portuguese  were  ready  to  resume 
their  voyage,  the  sheik  invited  Vasco  to  dine  with 
him,  and  advised  that  all  the  sick  men  should 
be  sent  on  shore. 

Vasco  learned  from  his  Moor  that  this  was  a 


VASCO  DA  GAMA  47 

trick  to  get  them  into  the  sheik's  power,  and  so 
he  declined  the  invitation. 

A  boat  was  sent  to  get  fresh  water,  and  one  of 
the  sheik's  pilots  went  to  show  the  Portuguese 
where  the  spring  was.  He  said  that  midnight- 
was  the  only  time  at  which  they  could  row  to  the 
spring  because  of  the  tide.  But  from  midnight 
until  morning  he  kept  them  rowing  about  from 
place  to  place,  and  no  water  was  found. 

Seeing  at  length  that  the  Portuguese  were 
gro^\ing  angry,  he  jumped  overboard  and  swam 
a  long  distance  under  water,  not  rising  till  he  was 
far  away  from  the  boat.     In  this  way  he  escaped. 

Vasco  now  sailed  away,  but  he  put  the  other 
pilot  in  irons.  He  could  not  trust  him;  for  the 
Moor  had  found  out  that  the  sheik  had  ordered 
both  the  pilots  to  steer  the  ships  upon  the  shoals 
and  wreck  them. 

The  next  harbor  Vasco  reached  was  Mombasa 
(Mom  bas'  a).  The  sheik  of  Mozambique  had 
sent  word  to  the  king,  who  was  a  friend  of  his, 
that  two  ships  would  soon  arrive  at  Mombasa 
whose  captains  were  great  rol)bers — that  they 
meant  to  bring  a  large  fleet  and  take  possession  of 
Mombasa  and  Mozambique;  and  that  the  wisest 
thing  to  do  was  to  make  prisoners  of  the  strangers 
and  put  them  to  death. 


48  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

As  soon  as  the  king  of  Mombasa  learned  that 
the  two  ships  had  actually  arrived  outside  the 
harbor  he  sent  a  kind  message  to  Vasco,  inviting 
him  to  land  and  make  a  treaty.  He  sent  two 
pilots  to  take  the  vessels  into  the  harbor  because 
there  were  dangerous  shoals  at  its  entrance.  He 
also  sent  a  large  boat  loaded  with  sheep,  sugar 
cane,  citrons,  lemons  and  oranges,  as  a  present. 

The  sick  men  were  delighted  with  the  fruit. 
Vasco  sent  two  men  on  shore  to  buy  some  other 
things  that  were  needed;  but  the  king  said  they 
might  have  whatever  they  wished  without  paying. 

A  guide  was  given  to  them  who  took  them  all 
over  the  city,  and  particularly  to  a  part  where, 
he  said,  Christians  lived.  The  people  there  pre- 
tended to  be  Christians  but  were  not.  They 
treated  the  Portuguese  kindly,  and  begged  them 
to  stop  all  night  at  their  houses. 

This  kindness  was  only  pretended.  The  truth 
was  that  the  king  had  given  orders  to  the  pilots 
to  run  Vasco's  vessels  on  the  shoals  of  the  harbor, 
and  they  tried  to  do  it.  Vasco's  ship,  however, 
did  not  obey  the  helm  when  they  were  tm^ning 
to  enter  the  harbor;  but  it  went  so  close  to  the 
shoal,  that  the  officer  in  command  ordered  the 
sailors  to  let  go  the  anchor  and  haul  down  the 
sails.     In    a   moment    this    was   done,     and    the 


VASCO  DA  GAMA  49 

other  ship  did  the  same.  The  two  pilots,  thinking 
their  plans  were  discovered,  jumped  into  the  water 
and  swam  to  a  boat  and  escaped. 

Vasco  determined  to  leave  these  treacherous 
people  at  once,  but  his  anchor  had  become  fixed 
so  firmly  in  the  rocks  of  the  shoal  that  the  crew 
could  not  raise  it.  '  They  labored  at  this  all  night, 
and  the  cable  parting  in  the  morning,  they  had 
to  leave  the  anchor  and  sail  away  without  it. 

The  next  port  that  they  reached  was  MeUnda. 
Here  they  were  treated  with  real  kindness;  for 
a  soothsayer,  whom  the  king  trusted,  told  him 
that  the  Portuguese  would  some  day  be  lords  of 
India,  and  that  he  had  better  make  a  treaty  with 
them. 

The  king  therefore  invited  Vasco  and  his  brother 
to  land  and  settle  upon  the  terms  of  a  treaty. 
The  Portuguese,  however,  were  distrustful.  They 
proposed  that  the  king  and  they  should  have  their 
talk  sitting  in  boats  near  the  shore,  and  to  this  the 
king  agreed.  Vasco  and  his  brother  dressed  them- 
selves in  their  handsomest  suits  and  went  in  their 
boats  seated  on  chairs  that  were  co\ered  with 
crimson  velvet.  Each  of  the  boats  carried  two 
small  guns  which  were  fired  as  a  salute,  and  then 
the  crews  rowed  toward  the  shore. 

The  king  now  came  on  board  one  of  the  boats, 

H\AHEN-M.T.-4 


50  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

and  sat  on  a  seat  prepared  for  him.  He  said  that 
he  wished  to  be  always  friendly  with  the  king  of 
Portugal.  Vasco  da  Gama  and  his  brother  knelt 
to  kiss  the  king's  hand,  but  he  made  them  rise. 
Then  the  trumpets  sounded  and  the  ships  fired  all 
their  guns. 

Vasco  presented  to  the  king  a  splendid  sword 
in  a  ease  of  gold,  saying,  "Sire,  we  give  you  this 
sword  in  the  name  of  our  king  and  promise  to 
maintain  peace  and  friendship  with  you  forever." 
The  king  answered  ''I  promise  and  swear  by  my 
religion  to  keep  peace  and  f  rend  ship  forever  with 
my  new  brother  the  king  of  Portugal."  Thousands 
of  the  king's  people  were  gathered  on  the  shore  and 
witnessed  all  this. 

After  the  treaty  had  been  made  Vasco  wished 
at  once  to  sail  to  India.  But  he  had  to  cross  the 
great  Indian  Ocean,  and  favorable  winds  would 
not  blow  until  August,  and  it  was  now  only  May. 
So  for  three  months  the  Portuguese  remained  at 
Melinda. 

Just  before  they  sailed  Vasco  erected,  on  a  hill 
near  the  city,  a  white  marble  column  on  which  was 
inscribed  the  name  of  King  Manuel. 

As  a  parting  gift  the  king  of  Melinda  sent  to  the 
Portuguese  a  large  boatload  of  rice,  butter,  sugar, 
cocoanuts,  sheep,  fowls  and  vegetables. 


52  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Sailing  eastward  now  for  about  twenty  days 
Vasco  at  length  sighted  land.  It  was  the  shore 
of  Calicut,  a  city  in  India.  The  vessels  were  soon 
anchored  in  the  harbor. 

Thus,  the  great  sea  route  to  the  land  of  silks 
and  spices  had  been  discovered.  A  factory,  or 
trading  house,  was  established  at  Calicut,  and  for 
the  next  hundred  years  httle  Portugal  was  the 
sovereign  of  the  eastern  seas,  and  the  greatest 
commercial  nation  of  Europe. 

Da  Gama  died  in  1524.  The  Portuguese  honor 
him  as  we  honor  Columbus;  and  Camoens  made 
him  the  hero  of  his  '^Lusiad,''  the  greatest  poem 
in  the  Portuguese  language. 


CHEVALIER  BAYARD 

1476-1524 

One  of  the  greatest  heroes  of  France  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  was  the  Chevaher  Bayard,  or, 
as  we  may  translate  his  title,  Bayard  the  Knight. 
His  real  name  was  Pierre  du  Terrail;  and  he  came 
of  a  famous  family  of  warriors  who  had  done  ex- 
cellent service  for  their  country.  He  was  born 
in  the  year  1476,  at  Bayard  Castle,  near  the  town 
of  Grenoble,  in  France;  and  it  was  from  the 
family  estate  that  he  took  the  name  of  Bayard. 

He  is  often  called  "the  knight  \\ithout  fear  and 
without  reproach."  He  was  so  brave  that  he 
never  feared  a  foe;  so  good  that  no  one  ever 
reproached  him  for  doing  wrong.  His  father 
and  grandfather  were  warriors,  and  no  other  life 
than  that  of  a  soldier  was  thought  of  for  young 
Pierre. 

The  first  step  in  the  education  of  a  knight  was 
to  become  a  page.  When  fourteen  years  old, 
Pierre  began  his  military  training  as  a  page  to 
a  famous  warrior  of  that  time,  Duke  Charles  of 
Savoy. 

Mounted  upon  a  pony,  and  dressed  in  a  suit  of 


54 


FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 


silk  and  velvet,  he  was  a  handsome  little  fellow; 
but,  better  than  that,  he  was  courteous  and  oblig- 
ing. The  pages  carried  messages  from  the  duke 
and  duchess  to  their  friends;  and  Pierre  was  such 


TOURNAMENT 


a  faithful  messenger  that  he  became  a  general 
favorite. 

He  had  not  been  a  year  at  the  ducal  palace  when 
the  duke  had  to  make  a  visit  to  his  sovereign, 
King  Charles  VIII  of  France.  He  thought  that 
he  could  do  no  better  service  to  the  king  than 
to  offer  him  his  bright  little  page. 

The  king  was  charmed  with  him,  and  for  three 


CHEVALIER  BAYARD  55 

years  Pierre  was  page  to  the  king.  He  was  then 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  gentleman.  He  was 
only  seventeen  years  old;  but  it  was  not  long 
before  he  became  famous,  and  everybody  at  the 
court  was  speaking  in  his  praise. 

It  was  the  fashion,  in  those  days,  for  brave  men 
to  show  their  skill  as  soldiers  by  fighting  with  one 
another  in  ^'tournaments"  or  sham  fights.  A 
lady,  chosen  for  the  occasion  and  called  the  Queen 
of  Beauty,  presented  prizes  to  the  victors.  The 
knights  who  ^^ished  to  fight  hung  their  shields 
on  the  boughs  of  trees  near  the  tournament 
grounds  as  a  challenge.  Whoever  wished  to 
accept  the  challenge  struck  the  hanging  shield 
with  his  lance  or  sword. 

A  tournament  was  to  be  held  in  honor  of  King 
Charles  and  the  ladies  of  his  court ;  and  Sir  Claude 
de  Vaudre  (vo'  dray),  who  was  the  champion  of 
France,  hung  up  his  shield.  Among  those  who 
struck  it  was  young  Pierre ;  and  when  the  tourna- 
ment was  held,  he  won  the  prize.  He  had  van- 
quished Sir  Claude. 

Not  long  after  this,  he  held  a  tournament  him- 
self, and  was  the  challenger.  Forty-eight  war- 
riors struck  the  shield  that  he  hung  u\) ;  and  one  by 
one  they  were  defeated  })y  him  in  the  tournament. 

But  it  was  real  war  for  which  the  young  soldier 


56  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

longed,  and  very  soon  it  came.  The  French 
king  invaded  Italy,  and  the  Italian  states  formed 
a  league  against  him.  In  a  battle  which  was 
fought,  although  the  Italians  were  more  than  five 
times  as  numerous  as  the  French,  King  Charles 
won  the  day. 

The  champion  of  the  fight  was  Bayard.  Two 
horses  were  killed  under  him,  his  sword  was 
hacked,  and  his  coat  of  mail  was  battered;  but 
in  spite  of  all,  he  captured  the  royal  standard  of 
Naples.  He  was  brought  before  the  sovereign 
holding  this  trophy  in  his  hand;  and  then  and 
there,  on  the  battlefield,  the  king  made  him  a 
knight. 

Charles  soon  afterwards  died,  but  under  the  new 
king,  Louis  VII,  the  French  again  fought  in  Italy. 
Marching  across  the  Alps,  they  captured  the 
province  of  Milan  and  held  it;  but  the  city  of 
Milan  was  won  back  from  them  by  the  Italian 
Prince  Sforza. 

Three  hundred  of  Sforza's  horsemen  were  one 
day  encamped  near  the  city,  when  Bayard,  with 
only  fifty  comrades,  made  an  assault  on  them. 
The  fight  was  wild,  but  at  length  the  Italians  fled 
and  galloped  swiftly  through  the  gates  into  Milan. 

Bayard,  supposing  that  his  comrades  were  close 
behind  him,  dashed  after  the  flying  Italians  into 


CHEVALIER  BAYARD  57 

the  great  square  of  the  city.  A  fierce  attack 
was  now  made  on  him,  while  he  on  his  part  slashed 
right  and  left  with  his  battle-axe,  kilHng  or  wound- 
ing many  of  his  assailants.  At  length  however 
he  was  overpowered,  and  taken  prisoner.  The 
din  of  this  conflict  was  heard  by  Sforza,  and  he 
ordered  the  knight  to  be  brought  before  him. 

When  Sforza  had  heard  his  story,  he  said,  ''Lord 
Bayard,  I  set  you  free.  I  ask  no  ransom.  I  will 
grant  whatever  favor  you  ask." 

''Prince,"  replied  Bayard,  "I  thank  you.  I 
ask  but  my  horse  and  my  armor." 

Then  bidding  his  generous  foe  adieu,  the  knight 
rode  out  of  the  city,  and  soon  reached  the  camp 
of  his  friends. 

Some  time  after  this  there  was  war  between 
France  and  Spain.  Both  claimed  certain  parts  of 
Italy,  and  so  the  fighting  was  done  on  Italian  soil. 

Once  the  French  and  Spanish  were  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  river.  There  was  a  bridge  between 
them  which  the  French  held  and  could  easily 
defend. 

The  Spanish  corrimander  knew  of  a  ford  some 
distance  down  the  stream.  He  proposed  to  draw 
the  French  away  from  the  bridge,  so  thai  his 
men  might  capture  it. 

Acconhngly,  taking  a  Ixnly  of  troops,  he  went 


58  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

to  the  ford,  as  if  he  were  intending  to  cross  it. 
The  French,  on  seeing  him  move,  abandoned 
their  post  at  the  bridge  and  marched  toward  the 
ford. 

The  bridge  being  thus  left  undefended,  a  body 
of  two  hundred  Spaniards  suddenly  appeared  and 
marched  directly  toward  it.  Bayard  saw  that  not 
a  moment  was  to  be  lost.  Putting  on  his  armor, 
he  leaped  to  the  saddle,  and  spurring  his  horse, 
was  on  the  bridge  before  the  Spaniards  could 
reach  it. 

The  Spaniards  quickly  arrived;  but  Bayard 
stood  upon  the  defensive  and,  swinging  his  heavy 
broadsword,  he  slew  an  enemy  with  every  blow. 
The  Spaniards  thought  him  some  demon,  and 
checked  their  furious  charge.  Meanwhile,  a  band 
of  French  horsemen  rushed  like  a  whirlwind  to  the 
bridge,  and  drove  the  Spaniards  back  to  the 
farther  side. 

After  this  exploit  men  said  of  Bayard,  ^'Single, 
he  has  the  might  of  an  army." 

Once,  at  the  siege  of  a  castle,  he  was  crossing 
the  ramparts  at  the  head  of  a  storming  party, 
when  he  received  his  first  wound.  He  was  struck 
by  a  pike,  and  the  sharp-pointed  head  remained 
fixed  in  his  thigh. 

He  was  taken  to  a  house  near  by,  where  a 


(59) 


BAVMtl)    DKhKNDS    IIIK    liUIDGB 


60  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

mother  and  her  daughters  had  shut  themselves  in 
in  dread  of  their  lives.  The  mother  timidly  opened 
the  door,  and  the  wounded  knight  was  taken  in; 
and  there  for  six  long  weeks  he  lay,  and  was 
nursed  as  carefully  as  if  he  had  been  a  member 
of  the  family.  And  he  on  his  part  was  their  pro- 
tection, for  a  band  of  his  soldiers  guarded  the 
house  until  all  danger  was  pa^t. 

On  the  day  of  Bayard's  departure,  the  mother 
begged  him  to  accept  a  little  steel  box  as  a  re- 
membrance. It  contained  twenty-five  hundred 
ducats  in  gold,  which  would  be  more  than  a  thou- 
sand dollars  of  our  money. 

''Give  five  hundred  for  me,"  said  Bayard,  'Ho 
the  nuns  whose  convent  near  your  house  has  been 
pillaged;  and  as  for  the  rest,  young  ladies,  I  beg 
you  each  to  accept  a  thousand  ducats  from  me; 
for  I  owe  you  much  for  your  care." 

War  was  still  raging  in  North  Italy.  Francis  I 
had  become  sovereign  of  France;  and  like  the 
king  who  reigned  before  him  claimed  part  of  Italy 
for  his  domain. 

The  French  army  lay  encamped  about  the  town 
of  Marignano  (ma  reen  va  no).  The  king  was 
about  to  take  his  supper,  when  suddenly  the 
enemy  marched  in  full  force  from  the  gates  and 
assaulted  his  camp.     The  French  were  instantly 


CHEVALIER  BAYARD  61 

in  arms,  and  the  battle  raged  as  long  as  there 
was  light  to  see  a  foe.  Both  armies  lay  under 
arms  all  night,  and  before  the  sun  rose,  the  fighting 
had  begun  again. 

The  contest  has  been  called  the  ''Battle  of  the 
Giants."  The  French  performed  marvelous  ex- 
ploits and  won  the  day,  but  Bayard  outshone  all 
his  comrades  still. 

The  evening  after  the  victory,  King  Francis 
knighted  many  brave  men  on  the  field  of  battle. 
But  a  wonderful  honor  was  chosen  for  Bayard. 
The  Idng  made  proclamation  that  he  himself 
would  receive  the  rank  of  knight  from  his  champion. 

Accordingly  he  knelt  before  the  Chevalier,  and 
Bayard,  striking  the  shoulder  of  Francis  with 
his  sword,  said,  "Rise,  Sir  Francis;"  and  thus 
gave  him  knighthood. 

When,  in  1520,  Francis  I  met  Henry  VIII  of 
England  near  Calais  upon  the  celebrated  "Field 
of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,"  the  knights  of  both  coun- 
tries vied  with  each  other  in  what  were,  perhaps, 
the  grandest  tournaments  ever  held;  and  Bayard 
again  won  the  greatest  renown. 

It  had  always  been  the  Knight's  wish  that  he 
miffht  die  in  battle.     And  so  he  did. 

In  1524  he  was  fighting  under  the  French  com- 
mander, Lord  Bonnivet.     Want  of  supplies  and 


62  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

sickness  compelled  Bonnivet  to  retreat.  The 
Spaniards  placed  men  in  ambush  along  the  road 
which  the  French  had  to  take.  From  one  of  these 
hidden  foes  the  chevalier  received  his  death 
wound.  A  comrade  helped  him  from  his  horse, 
and  laid  him  under  the  shadow  of  a  tree. 

Bayard  felt  that  he  was  dying.  He  charged  his 
friend  to  turn  his  face  toward  the  foe,  and  then 
to  care  for  his  own  safety.  When  the  Spaniards 
reached  the  spot,  they  found  him  still  breathing. 

The  Spanish  general.  Lord  Pescara,  showed 
him  every  care,  and  a  priest  was  brought  to  console 
him  in  his  last  moments.  And  thus,  loved  by 
friends  and  admired  by  foes,  the  ^^  knight  without 
fear  and  without  reproach"  ended  his  wonderful 
life. 


CARDINAL  WOLSEY 

1471-1530 

Not  far  from  London  is  an  old  palace  called 
Hampton  Court.  Had  you  been  standing  near 
its  gateway  on  a  Sunday  about  four  hundred 
years  ago,  you  might  have  heard  the  cry,  ''Make 
way  for  my  Lord's  Grace." 

Looking  toward  the  palace  you  would  have  seen 
a  curious  procession  leaving  the  doorway.  You 
would  have  noticed  one  gentleman  carrying  a 
scarlet  hat;  two  very  tall  and  handsome  persons 
each  carrying  a  silver  cross;  another  carrying  a 
mace,  which  is  a  wooden  staff  with,  a  spiked  metal 
ball  for  its  head;  and  still  another  carrying  the 
great  seal  of  England. 

After  these  you  would  have  seen  a  number  of 
gentlemen  who  made  the  cry  which  you  heard. 
Following  these  was  the  most  important  person  of 
all — a  high  officer  of  church  and  state,  mounted  on 
a  mule  which  had  trappings  of  crimson  velvet  and 
gilt  stirrups.  This  was  ''my  Lord's  Grace."  His 
name  was  Thomas  Wolsey ;  and  when  people  were 
told  to  make  way  for  him,  he  was  setting  out  to 
pay  his  Sunday  call  upon  the  king  of  r]ngland. 


64  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

The  red  hat  showed  that  he  was  a  cardinal. 
He  was  also  the  Pope's  legate,  or  the  represent- 
ative of  the  Pope  in  England.  The  mace, 
and  the  great  seal,  showed  that  he  was  Lord 
Chancellor  of  the  kingdom. 

Wolsey  was  second  only  to  the  sovereign  in  the 
kingdom — second  only  to  the  Pope  in  the  church. 

He  was  not  born  to  all  this  greatness.  His 
father  was  a  butcher  who  lived  in  the  town  of 
Ipswich,  in  England,  and  in  addition  to  his  busi- 
ness as  a  butcher,  kept  sheep  and  sold  wool.  He 
was  a  prosperous  man — neither  rich  nor  poor. 

Thomas  was  born  in  the  year  1471.  He  was 
sent  to  the  grammar  school  in  his  native  town; 
and  when  only  eleven  was  ready  for  college.  He 
graduated  at  fifteen — so  young  that  at  college 
he  was  called  the  "Boy  Bachelor." 

One  thing  that  made  him  great  was  that  he 
was  very  clever  and  very  industrious.  He  learned 
his  lessons  so  well  and  so  quickly  that  all  his 
teachers  were  astonished. 

He  made  up  his  mind  after  graduating  to  be- 
come a  priest  and  was  ordained.  Then  he  was 
put  in  charge  of  a  church  called  Limington. 

Some  time  after  he  began  preaching  in  Liming- 
ton, King  Henry  VII  wished  to  marry  a  certain 
Spanish  princess,  and  had  to  obtain  the  consent 


CARDINAL  WOLSEY  65 

of  the  emperor  of  Germany.  He  needed  some 
very  ^vise  and  trusty  messenger  to  send  to  Europe 
to  arrange  with  the  emperor  about  this  marriage. 

Bishop  Fisher  and  other  good  friends  of  Wolsey 
told  the  king  that  no  better  man  than  Wolsey 
could  be  found  in  all  England.  So  the  young 
priest  was  invited  to  a  conference  with  the  king, 
and  Henry  told  Wolsey  what  he  wished  him  to  say 
to  the  emperor.  After  this  Wolsey  hastened  to 
Dover  and  embarked  upon  a  vessel  which  was 
waiting  for  him. 

Fair  winds  soon  wafted  Wolsey's  ship  across 
the  English  Channel,  and  swift  post  horses  brought 
him  to  the  town  where  the  emperor  was  staying. 
The  king's  message  was  delivered  and  everything 
was  arranged  as  Henry  had  desired.  Wolsey  then 
sailed  back  to  England. 

He  took  post  horses  and  reached  the  palace  by 
night.  Next  morning  the  king  saw  him,  and 
asked  why  he  had  not  yet  started  on  his  journey. 
He  had  not  been  away  a  whole  week;  and  the 
king  could  scarcely  believe  that  he  had  gone  to 
see  the  emperor  and  had  returned.  Henry  was 
greatly  pleased,  and  put  the  swift  and  sure  mes- 
senger into  a  much  better  position  in  the  church 
than  he  already  held. 

After  the  death  of  Henry  VTI,  his  son  Henry 

HAAKFN-M.T.-5 


66 


FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 


VIII  found  Wolsey  a  most  useful  person.  The 
young  king  was  fond  of  amusement,  but  not  at 
all  fond  of  business.  Wolsey  liked  to  manage  the 
business    of    the    kingdom. 

Henry  saw  that  Wolsey  could  do  this,  and  save 
him  a  great  deal  of  trouble;    and  for  this  reason 


HAMPTON  COURT 


the  king  made  him  Lord  Chancellor  of  England. 
Wolsey  was  now  for  a  time  the  real  ruler  of  the 
kingdom. 

Wolsey  thought  it  wise  to  live  in  a  great  deal 
of  show.  He  saw  that  it  pleased  the  people  and 
the  king. 

He  built  for  his  home  the  palace  called  Hampton 


CARDINAL  WOLSEY  67 

Court.  It  was  very  handsome  and  the  king 
greatly  admired  it.  So,  after  Hving  in  it  about 
ten  years,  Wolsey  gave  it  to  his  majesty  as  a  pres- 
ent; and  to  this  day  it  belongs  to  the  sovereign 
of  England. 

Twice  Wolsey  was  sent  by  Henry  VIII  with 
messages  to  Charles  V;  and  when  he  traveled  on 
state  business  he  seemed  as  grand  as  the  king 
himself. 

The  Parliament  met  in  a  large  building  called 
Westminster  Hall.  Wolsey  used  to  go  there 
from  Hampton  Court  in  great  pomp,  just  as  when 
he  went  to  visit  the  king. 

Several  times  every  year  the  king  went  to  visit 
the  great  cardinal.  Then  the  most  expensive 
luxuries  that  could  be  bought  were  served  at  the 
table.  There  were  music  and  dancing.  The  finest 
singers  of  England  w^ere  employed;  and  the  king 
and  the  lords  and  ladies  of  the  court  often  took 
part  in  the  festivities. 

But  there  was  something  more  serious  in  Wol- 
sey's  life  than  the  love  of  luxury  and  merrymak- 
ing. He  wanted  to  found  a  college  at  Oxford,  as 
other  great  churchmen  had  done,  but  the  means 
were  not  at  hand.  He  had  received  from  the  king 
the  revenues  of  the  abbey  of  St.  Albans,  and  he 
applied  to  the  Pope  for  permission  to  suppress  a 


68  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

monastery  at  Oxford  and  apply  its  property  to 
the  new  college.  As  the  need  for  a  new  college 
was  said  to  be  most  pressing,  and  as  the  mon- 
astery was  well  adapted  for  a  house  of  learning 
the  Pope  consented. 

Still  there  was  not  money  enough  for  Wolsey's 
purpose.  So  he  wrote  to  the  Pope  that  there 
were  many  monasteries  in  which  the  monks  were 
so  few  that  they  could  not  perform  their  office 
properly.  Then  the  Pope  gave  to  Wolsey  in- 
creased powers  to  suppress  monasteries  wherever 
he  might  deem  it  necessary,  provided  the  king 
and  the  founders  did  not  object,  and  the  monks 
were  admitted  to  other  monasteries.  Wolsey 
received  the  king's  approval  and  began  his 
work. 

He  met  with  strenuous  objections  from  the  peo- 
ple, however,  and  in  some  places  there  was  a  riot 
when  Wolsey's  agents  attempted  to  expel  the  oc- 
cupants of  the  monasteries. 

Nevertheless,  the  means  were  secured,  and 
Christchurch  College  was  founded,  as  well  as  a 
school  at  Ipswich. 

Wolsey  was  a  very  ambitious  man.  He  got 
for  himself  the  highest  positions  in  England ;  and 
he  hoped  sometime  to  be  made  pope. 

He  was  the  favorite  of  the  king  for  many  years ; 


CARDINAL  WOLSEY  69 

but  Henry  was  a  fickle  man.  If  a  man  or  woman 
did  not  do  exactly  as  he  wished,  his  love  soon 
changed  to  hate. 

Henry  was  married  to  Catherine  of  Aragon,  the 
widow  of  his  brother  Arthur,  the  daughter  of  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella,  and  aunt  of  the  emperor  Charles  V. 
Nevertheless,  he  fell  in  love  with  another  woman 
named  Anne  Boleyn,  and  mshed  Wolsey  to  persuade 
the  Pope  to  annul  the  marriage  with  Catherine. 

Henry  said  he  feared  his  marriage  was  illegal, 
and  Wolsey  tried  to  get  the  Pope  to  do  what  Hen- 
ry and  Wolsey  wished.  After  considerable  delay, 
for  the  Pope  was  then  a  prisoner,  a  cardinal  was 
sent  to  form  with  Wolsey  a  court  to  try  the  case. 

Catherine  was  called  before  the  court,  but  as 
Wolsey  was  her  subject,  she  would  not  recognize 
the  authority  of  the  court,  and  appealed  to  Rome. 

No  decision  was  made  for  a  long  time,  and 
Henry  began  to  consider  his  case  hopeless  when  he 
learned  that  a  shrewd  young  man  named  Cranmer 
had  said  that  the  King  ought  to  get  opinions  about 
his  marriage  from  the  universities. 

That  speech  was  the  making  of  Cranmer.  Hen- 
ry followed  his  advice.  No  foreign  university, 
however,  would  give  an  opinion,  but  pressure  was 
brought  on  the  English  universities  and  a  favor- 
able answer  was  rendered.     The   women  of  Ox- 


(70) 


CARDINAL  WOLSEY  71 

ford,  however,  stoned  the  king's  messengers  when 
they  came  for  the  formal  documents. 

The  answer  of  the  professors  was  just  what 
Henry  wanted.  They  said  he  ought  never  to  have 
married  Catherine;  and  that  it  was  right  for  him 
to  marry  Anne.  The  king  was  overjoyed.  Cathe- 
rine was  divorced  and  Anne  became  the  queen. 

Henry  thought  Cranmer  ought  to  be  hand- 
somely rewarded  for  helping  him  out  of  his  diffi- 
culty, and  so  he  made  him  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. 

Anne  Boleyn  thought  that  Wolsey  w^as  to 
blame  for  the  delay  in  having  Henry's  marriage 
annulled  and  she  became  the  bitter  enemy  of  the 
cardinal.  Then  the  king  grew  cold,  and  was 
easily  persuaded  that  Wolsey  had  broken  one  of 
the  laws  of  the  land  in  having  directly  sent  to  him 
the  Pope's  '^ bulls."* 

There  is  a  law  in  England  that  the  Pope's  bulls 
shall  not  be  published  unless  the  king  allows  it. 
But  Henry  himself,  as  he  well  knew,  had  allowed 
the  bulls  sent  to  Wolsey  to  be  pubHshed.  So  the 
great  cardinal  had  done  nothing  wrong  against  the 
laws  of  the  land. 

However,  Henry  took  from  him  the  honors  he 

*"BuH"  is  really  a  Latin  word  moaniiiK  "beal."  It  has  come  to 
mean  a  letter  sealed  with  the  seal  of  the  pope. 


(72) 


CARDINAL  WOLSEY  73 

had  previously  bestowed  upon  him,  and  ordered 
him  to  give  up  the  great  seal. 

Wolsey  was  soon  afterwards  accused  of  high 
treason,  and  the  king  ordered  that  he  should  be 
tried.  He  was  in  a  distant  town  at  the  time,  and 
a  guard  of  twenty -five  men  w^as  sent  to  take  him 
to  the  Tower  of  London. 

At  that  time  Wolsey  was  very  sick,  but  he  rode 
several  days  with  his  guard  toward  London. 
When  he  reached  the  Abbey  of  Leicester  and  the 
abbot  came  out  to  meet  him,  Wolsey  said  to  him, 
''Father  Abbot,  I  have  come  to  leave  my  bones 
with  you;"  and  so  indeed  he  did.  He  went  at 
once  to  his  bed  and  never  left  it. 

As  he  was  talking  to  Sir  WiUiam  Kingston,  the 
chief  of  the  guard,  a  little  while  before  he  died, 
he  said,  ''If  I  had  served  God  as  diligently  as  I 
have  served  the  king,  he  would  not  have  given  me 
over  in  my  gray  hairs." 

The  next  morning,  as  the  abbey  clock  was  strik- 
ing eight,  he  passed  away. 

He  was  the  greatest  English  statesman  of  the 
age  of  Henry  VHL 

After  Wolsey's  death  Henry  married  Anne 
Boleyn;  and  he  and  the  Parhament  did  just  what 
Wolsey  had  foretold.  They  declared  the  Church 
of  England  independent  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 


CHARLES  V  OF  GERMANY 

1500-1558 

In  1500,  eight  years  after  the  discovery  of 
America  by  Columbus,  a  Spanish  prince  was  born 
in  the  city  of  Ghent  in  the  Netherlands.  He  was 
named    Charles. 

He  was  the  grandson  of  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella, and  from  them  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he 
inherited  the  crown  of  Spain  and  the  two  Ameri- 
cas. From  his  father  he  inherited  the  kingdom  of 
Naples  and  the  Netherlands. 

When  he  was  about  nineteen  years  old,  his  other 
grandfather  the  emperor  of  Germany  died.  Three 
great  kings  were  then  reigning — Francis  I,  in 
France,  Henry  VIII,  in  England,  and  the  young 
king  Charles — and  each  of  them  wished  to  be 
chosen  as  the  next  emperor. 

Charles  was  elected;  and  as  he  was  the  fifth 
German  emperor  who  was  so  named,  he  assumed 
the  title  of  Charles  V. 

With  Germany  thus  added  to  his  already  vast 
domains,  he  was  now  the  ruler  of  an  empire 
greater  than  that  of  Charlemagne — greater  even 
than  that  of  Imperial  Rome. 


CHARLES  V  OF  GERMANY  75 

It  is  wonderful  that  Charles  was  able  to  attend 
to  the  affairs  of  countries  separated  from  one 
another  by  such  great  distances.  This  was  far 
more  difficult  then  than  it  would  be  now;  be- 
cause at  that  time  there  were  neither  railroads 
nor  steamships,  neither  telegraphs  nor  telephones. 
Carriage  roads  were  few  and  most  of  them  were 
bad.  Yet  Charles  attended  well  to  every  part  of 
his  vast  empire.  Although  he  could  not  be  pres- 
ent everywhere,  his  power  was  felt  everywhere. 

In  1518  Mexico  was  discovered  by  a  Spaniard. 
An  expedition  was  at  once  sent  out  from  Cuba 
to  take  possession  of  the  country.  Ten  vessels, 
carrying  about  seven  hundred  Spaniards,  sailed 
under  the  command  of  Hernando  Cortes.  The 
noise  of  the  Spanish  guns  and  cannon  made  the 
Mexicans  think  that  the  Spaniards  were  gods, 
and  could  not  be  killed  or  even  wounded. 

The  people  of  Tlascala  (tlas  ca'  la)  were  enemies 
of  Montezuma  (mon  te  zoo'  ma)  king  of  Mexico; 
and  Cortes  persuaded  them  to  join  his  forces. 
So  the  native  and  Spanish  soldiers  marched  to- 
gether to  the  city  of  Mexico. 

Montezuma  thought  at  first  that  Cortes  was 
an  ancient  god  of  the  Mexicans  who  had  once  been 
their  king,  and  received  him  with  great  kindness. 
But  Cortes  made  the  king  his  prisoner  and  kept 


76  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

him  closely  guarded.  Cortes  also  compelled  him 
to  give  the  Spaniards  about  half  a  milUon  dollars 
in  gold. 

The  Mexicans  were  very  angry  with  Montezuma 
for  giving  up  so  much  treasure,  and  some  of  them 
revolted.  Montezuma  tried  to  pacify  them  with 
kind  words;  but  the  rebels  hurled  stones  at  him 
and  he  was  severely  wounded  and  died  soon  after- 
wards as  the  result  of  his  injuries. 

Cortes  at  length  succeeded  in  taking  possession 
of  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  the  whole  country 
thus  became  a  part  of  the  great  empire  of  Charles 
V. 

One  of  Charles's  neighbors  was  exceedingly 
jealous  of  him.  This  was  Francis  I,  king  of 
France.  He  laid  claim  to  the  province  of  Navarre, 
in  Spain,  and  this  brought  on  several  wars  between 
Francis  and  Charles  which  lasted  through  many 
years. 

Francis  was  a  brave  enemy.  Like  Hannibal  he 
crossed  the  snow-covered  Alps  and  invaded  Italy. 
But  Charles  was  more  than  a  match  for  him.  In 
one  battle  he  took  Francis  prisoner — in  another 
he  captured  the  Pope — and  having  taken  pos- 
session of  Rome  he  kept  His  Holiness  a  prisoner 
in  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo  which  belonged  to  the 
Pope  himself. 


78  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Francis  was  at  last  oblij^ed  to  content  himself 
with  his  own  kingdom;  and  to  leave  Navarre 
in  the  hands  of  Charles. 

One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  which  Charles 
had  to  deal  with  was  the  religious  quarrel  which 
was  going  on  all  over  Germany. 

The  German  Empire  at  that  time  consisted  of 
a  great  many  separate  states,  such  as  Saxony, 
Bavaria  and  others.  The  rulers  of  these  states 
had  different  titles.  Some  were  called  dukes, 
some  princes,  and  some  kings. 

The  rulers  and  people  of  the  German  states 
were  divided  into  two  great  parties — the  Roman 
CathoHcs,  and  the  Lutherans  or  Protestants. 
The  quarrel  between  them  began  about  the  time 
that  Charles  was  born,  and  lasted  for  more  than  a 
hundred  years.  It  was  ended  only  by  the  terrible 
battles  of  the  ''Thirty  Years'  War,"  which  came 
to  a  close  in  1648. 

Charles  was  very  anxious  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
evils  which  arose  from  this  quarrel.  It  seemed 
to  him  that  the  simplest  way  of  doing  so  was  to 
get  rid  of  the  Protestants  altogether.  But  so 
many  of  the  princes  and  people  of  Germany  had 
become  Protestants  that  he  found  it  impossible 
to  do  this;  and  he  was  obliged  to  allow  northern 
Germany  to  remain  for  the  most  part  Protestant. 


80  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

While  Charles  was  thus  trying  to  make  the  great 
reUgious  parties  of  Germany  live  in  peace,  a  new 
difficulty  arose. 

Solyman  the  Sublime  then  ruled  the  great 
empire  of  Turkey;  and,  like  Francis  I,  he  was  very 
anxious  to  get  possession  of  a  sUce  of  Charles's 
domains. 

In  1529  he  raised  an  immense  army  and  laid 
siege  to  Vienna,  which  was  then  the  capital  of 
the  German  empire.  He  was  defeated  and  beaten 
back.  This  did  not,  however,  altogether  discour- 
age him;  but  with  a  large  army,  he  marched  into 
southeastern  Germany. 

Charles  then  saw  his  opportunity  to  bring  to- 
gether the  Catholic  and  Protestant  Germans. 
He  called  upon  them  to  unite  for  the  defense 
of  the  empire  against  the  common  foe.  All 
Germany  at  once  responded ;  and  one  of  the  finest 
armies  was  assembled  that  Europe  had  ever  seen. 

Charles  took  command  in  person  and  marched 
against  the  Turks.  When  Solyman  learned  of 
this  he  retreated  without  a  battle.  He  saw  that 
the  wisest  thing  for  him  to  do  was  to  leave  Ger- 
many in  possession  of  the  Germans,  and  to  look 
more  closely  after  his  own  affairs. 

The  Turks  still  continued  to  be  troublesome, 
however,    both    on    land   and    at    sea.     Solyman 


CHARLES  V  OF  GERMANY  81 

employed  a  famous  pirate  named  Barbarossa  to 
attack  all  Christian  merchant  vessels  that  ven- 
tured to  sail  upon  the  Mediterranean.  Bar- 
barossa and  his  master  were  determined  that  none 
but  Turkish  ships  should  sail  that  sea  without 
paying  toll  to  the  Turks.  The  pirates  captured 
the  vessels  of  the  Christians,  took  possession  of 
the  cargoes,  and  made  slaves  of  all  whom  they 
found  on  board. 

Charles  made  up  his  mind  to  put  a  stop  to  all 
this.  He  therefore  attacked  Tunis,  on  the  north- 
ern shore  of  Africa,  which  was  Barbarossa's 
stronghold.  Barbarossa  was  defeated,  Tunis  was 
captured,  and  thousands  of  Christian  slaves  were 
set  free. 

This  caused  great  rejoicing  all  over  Europe; 
and  Charles  was  regarded  as  a  benefactor  of 
Christian  seafaring  people. 

All  these  wars  cost  a  great  deal  of  money;  and 
some  of  Charles's  subjects  made  strong  objections 
to  paying  the  taxes  levied  upon  them. 

The  Dutch  people,  in  particular,  complained 
bitterly.  The  people  of  Ghent,  the  very  town  in 
which  Charles  was  born,  positively  refused  to 
pay.  They  felt  very  much  as  our  ancestors  did 
who  fought  in  tlie  Revolutionary  War.  i'hey 
thought  that  people  who  paid  taxes  should  have 

HAAKEN-M.T.-O 


82  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

something  to  say  about  the  way  in  which  the  taxes 
should  be  spent. 

Charles  considered  that  it  was  not  only  the  duty 
of  the  people  to  pay,  but  that  it  was  his  sole  right 
to  decide  what  should  be  done  with  the  money. 
He  therefore  determined  to  punish  the  people  of 
Ghent. 

He  took  away  the  charter  which  gave  the 
citizens  the  right  to  choose  their  own  magistrates, 
and  he  appointed  officers  of  his  own  choosing 
to  manage  their  affairs.  He  also  caused  those 
persons  who  had  advised  the  people  not  to  pay 
to  be  treated  as  traitors  and  to  be  put  to  death. 

In  an  attempt  to  take  Algiers,  in  1541,  his  fleet 
was  wrecked  and  more  than  half  his  army  perished ; 
and  although  this  was  a  favorite  object  with 
Charles  the  project  had  to  be  abandoned. 

As  he  grew  older,  Charles  found  that  it  was 
quite  impossible  to  manage  his  vast  empire  just 
as  he  wished  to  do.  The  pirates  of  Algiers  still 
went  on  robbing,  and  more  than  half  of  his  people 
in  Germany  would  be  Protestants  in  spite  of  all 
that  he  could  say  or  do. 

He  was  greatly  discouraged;  and,  in  1554,  he 
gave  the  Netherlands  and  the  kingdom  of  Naples 
to  his  son  Phihp. 

He  then  called  together  the  ^^  States  General," 


84  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

or  Congress  of  the  Netherlands,  at  Brussels;  and 
with  his  right  hand  resting  upon  a  crutch,  and  his 
left  upon  the  shoulder  of  the  young  Prince  of 
Orange,  he  made  a  very  solemn  address. 

He  said  that  his  infirmities  made  it  necessary 
for  him  to  give  up  the  cares  of  government.  He 
then  asked  the  "States  General"  to  forgive  what- 
ever errors  he  had  committed  during  his  reign, 
and  to  accept  Philip  as  his  successor. 

The  whole  assembly  burst  into  tears  and  sobs; 
and  Charles  himself,  completely  overcome,  sank 
into  a  chair  and  wept  like  a  child. 

Two  years  after  this  he  resigned  the  crown  of 
Spain;  and,  after  two  years  more,  gave  up  his 
position  as  emperor  of  Germany. 

He  caused  a  palace  to  be  built  near  the  monas- 
tery of  Yuste  (yoos'  tay),  in  Spain;  and  there 
he  spent  the  last  days  of  his  life. 

The  story  is  told  that  he  amused  himself  with 
trying  to  make  a  number  of  clocks  in  different 
rooms  of  the  palace  keep  the  same  time.  Finding 
that  he  could  not  do  this,  he  is  said  to  have  re- 
marked that  it  was  no  wonder  he  could  not  make 
all  the  people  in  his  kingdom  live  and  act  as  he 
desired. 

Although  extremely  ambitious  and  overbear- 
ing he  managed  to  maintain  a  strong  hold  on  his 


CHARLES  V  OF  GERMANY  85 

people;  and  some  of  the  events  of  his  career 
exercised  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  later 
history  of  Europe. 

During  his  days  of  retirement  he  was  very  fond 
of  attending  the  religious  services  of  the  monaste/y, 
and  of  Ustening  to  the  reports  of  messengers  who 
came  to  tell  him  the  news  from  all  parts  of  his 
former  domain.  His  strength  rapidly  failed;  and 
he  died  in  1558. 


SOLYMAN  THE  SUBLIME 

1490-1566 

t 

Solj'man  (soF  e  man)  I,  sometimes  called  the 
Sublime,  was  sultan  of  Turkey  when  Charles  V 
was  emperor  of  Germany.  He  was  born  about  the 
year  1490,  and  became  sultan  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
five. 

When  his  father,  Selim  I,  lay  upon  his  death 
bed,  he  said  to  his  son  Solyman,  ''My  son,  I  am 
passing  away,  and  you  will  soon  be  ruler  of  Tur- 
key. During  my  reign  I  have  tried  to  make 
my  empire  a  strong  military  power.  Promise  me 
that  you  will  carry  on  the  work  which  I  have 
begun.  Try  to  make  the  Turkish  nation  re- 
spected and  feared." 

''Father,"  said  Solyman,  "I  will  do  all  that 
I  can  to  make  my  country  the  equal  of  any  in  the 
world." 

We  know  nothing  of  the  Turks  until  about  the 
time  of  Louis  IX,  the  crusading  king  of  France. 
Then  a  small  body  of  the  strange  warlike  people 
came  from  central  Asia;  and  in  about  fifty  years 
they  had  gained  possession  of  all  that  part  of 
Asia  which  we   call   Asia  Minor. 


SOLYMAN  THE   SUBLIME 


87 


Only  the  narrow  strait  called  the  Bosporus, 
about  one  mile  wide,  lay  between  them  and  the 
beautiful  city  of  Constantinople,  which  was  then 
the  capital  of  the  Eastern  Roman  Empire.  From 
the  Asiatic  side  of  the  Bosporus  the  Turks  could 


see  the  palaces  of  the  Christian  city  and  the 
church  of  Santa  Sophia  (so  fee'  a),  then  the  most 
magnificent   church   in   Christendom. 

In  1453,  when  Gutenberg  was  printing  his 
first  Latin  Biljle,  the  Turks  attacked  Constanti- 
nople with    a  powerful    fleet.     The    Greeks  had 


(88) 


TRIUMPHAL   ENTRY   OF  THE   TURKS 


SOLYMAN  THE  SUBLIME  89 

put  a  chain  across  the  mouth  of  the  harbor, 
but  the  Turks  made  a  plank  road  five  miles  long, 
drew  their  war  galleys  over  it,  and  launched 
them  under  the  very  walls  of  the  city.  Their 
cannon  made  a  breach  in  the  walls,  and  through 
it  the  Turks  entered  and  stormed  the  place. 

The  Greek  emperor,  though  fighting  bravely, 
fell;  and  the  Turks  completely  overpowered 
the   Christians. 

At  sunset  the  sultan  gave  thanks  for  his  vic- 
tory. The  church  of  St.  Sophia  was  at  once 
turned  into  a  mosque,  and  so  remains  to  the 
present   day. 

By  the  capture  of  Constantinople  the  Turks 
gained  their  first  foothold  in  Europe;  and  for 
more  than  two  hundred  years  afterward  it  was 
their  constant  effort  to  make  themselves  mas- 
ters of  the  whole  continent. 

With  this  idea  in  mind,  Solyman  invaded  Ser- 
via  and  besieged  Belgrade,  the  capital.  Belgrade 
was  at  that  time  one  of  the  strongest  fortifications 
in  the  world.  It  was  also  the  great  stronghold 
of  the  Christians  of  the  east.  Solyman  captured 
the  city  and  annexed  Servia  to  the  empire  of 
Turkey. 

He  next  invaded  Hungary,  and  in  1526  a  ter- 
rible battle  was  fought  at  Mohacs   (mo  hach'). 


Zick 


INCIDENT     OF    THE     TURKISH     INVASION 


SOLYMAN  THE  SUBLIME  91 

Solyman  gained  the  victory.  A  great  number 
of  the  Hungarian  nobihty  perished  and  their 
king,   Louis  II,   lost  his  hfe. 

A  large  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Danube  was 
now  at  the  mercy  of  Solyman,  and  portions  of 
it  continued  to  be  Turkish  territory  for  three 
centuries. 

After  this  battle  some  of  the  Hungarian  nobles 
elected  as  king  a  man  named  John  Zapol3^a  (za' 
pol  ya).  A  prince  who  had  a  better  right  to 
the  throne  was  Ferdinand,  duke  of  Austria,  who 
was  the  brother  of  Charles  V. 

Zapolya  could  not  drive  Ferdinand's  troops 
out  of  the  kingdom.  He  asked  Solyman  to  help 
him.  This  Solyman  was  glad  to  do  because  he 
saw  that  it  might  give  him  the  opportunity  to 
take  possession  of  all  Hungary.  With  a  large 
army  he  marched  into  the  country.  He  took 
from  Ferdinand  the  fortified  city  of  Buda  and 
made    it    his    own    headquarters. 

Not  long  afterwards  he  appeared  with  an 
army  of  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  men  be- 
fore Vienna  which  was  Ferdinand's  caijital.  Af- 
ter trying  several  times  to  storm  the  city, 
however,  he  had  to  al^andon  the  siege.  But 
fighting  continued  until  it  was  agreed  that  Za- 
polya should   be   king   of   one   half   of  Hungary, 


92  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

and  of  course  he  became  a  vassal  to  Solyman. 

Some  time  later  Solyman  compelled  Ferdinand 
to  pay  tribute  for  the  other  half — thus  all  Hun- 
gary became  a  province  of  the  Turkish  empire, 
and  this  it  continued  to  be  for  more  than  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years. 

All  of  northern  Africa  was  Mohammedan,  and 
from  its  shores  it  was  easy  to  send  out  expedi- 
tions to  attack  the  ships  of  Christian  nations. 
Solyman  selected  Tunis  as  the  headquarters 
for  his  fleet.  His  great  admiral,  Barbarossa, 
was  the  terror  of  every  Christian  seaman.  He 
forced  the  nations  who  carried  on  commerce 
on  the  Mediterranean  to  pay  him  tribute,  as  if 
the  sea  belonged  to  the  Turks,  and  as  if  the 
ships  of  no  other  nation  had  the  right  to  sail 
upon  it. 

Charles  V  determined  to  capture  Algiers  and 
put  a  stop  to  the  sufferings  of  the  many  thou- 
sand Christians  whom  the  Turks  kept  in  prison 
or  slavery.  With  an  army  of  over  twenty  thou- 
sand men  he  landed  near  Algiers,  and  it  looked 
as  though  he  would  certainly  take  the  city. 

But  the  night  before  he  intended  to  make 
the  attack  a  storm  arose.  A  torrent  of  rain 
fell.  The  soldiers  had  no  tents,  and  they  were 
drenched.     The    wind    blew    bitterly    cold;     and 


SOLYMAN  THE  SUBLIME  93 

toward  morning  the  Turks  sallied  forth  from 
the  gate  of  the  city  and,  making  a  sudden  at- 
tack upon  the  Christians,  threw  them  into  con- 
fusion. 

Charles  V  himself  mounted  his  horse  and 
rallied  the  troops.  But  though  they  fought 
bravely  they  could  not  capture  the  city,  and 
after  losing  several  himdred  men  they  retreated 
to  their  ships  and  sailed  back  to  Spain. 

Another  of  Solyman's  pirate  captains  was 
Dragoot.  He  attacked  two  villages  not  far  from 
Naples,  and  took  about  a  thousand  prisoners — 
men,  women  and  children.  Then  he  let  the 
Christian  people  know  that  if  they  brought  a 
sufficient  sum  of  money  they  might  ransom 
relatives  or  friends  whom  he  had  captured.  He 
also  told  the  Turks  that  they  could  buy  his  cap- 
tives as  slaves. 

Thus  both  by  sea  and  by  land  the  Turks  un- 
der Solyman  were  dreaded  by  the  most  power- 
ful nations  of  Europe.  But  they  were  able  to 
go  no  farther  than  Hungary,  except  on  the  one 
occasion    when    they    attacked    Vienna. 

Being  checked  in  Europe,  Solyman  turned 
his  thoughts  toward  Asia,  and  with  a  power- 
ful army  he  invaded  Persia. 

The  Persians  met  him  in  battle;    but  finally 


94  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

the  Persian  monarch  had  to  purchase  peace  by 
payment  of  a  large  sum  of  money.  Except  for 
this  Solyman  would  certainly  have  taken  pos- 
session  of   the   whole   country. 

Solyman 's  promise  to  his  father  was  well 
kept.  He  pushed  the  empire  of  Turkey  west- 
ward into  the  heart  of  Europe,  and  eastward 
into  the  heart  of  Asia.  He  filled  both  conti- 
nents with  dismay. 

But  the  end  was  near.  In  1566  a  revolution 
broke  out  in  Hungary,  and  Solyman,  at  the 
head  of  a  vast  army,  went  to  quell  it.  He  was 
then  a  white-haired  man  of  seventy-six,  but 
vigorous  and  active.  He  rode  at  the  head  of 
his  troops  on  a  favorite  black  horse  which  had 
carried  him  in  many  a  campaign.  He  was 
cheerful  and  hopeful,  and  as  he  went  along  he 
conversed    with    his    officers. 

"I  must  conquer  the  Hungarians  this  time 
so  thoroughly,"  said  he,  ''that  they  will  never 
revolt  again.  Then  I  will  return  home  and 
hang  up  my  sword,  for  I  am  getting  too  old  to 
bear  the  hardships  of  war." 

He  crossed  the  river  Drave  and  laid  siege  to 
the  fortress  of  Szigeth  (se'  get),  which  was  de- 
fended by  a  small  force  of  Hungarians.  They 
gallantly  resisted  the  attack  of  the  Turks;    but 


SOLYMAN  THE   SUBLIME  95 

at  the  end  of  four  weeks,  were  forced  to  sur- 
render. 

The  conqueror,  however,  did  not  Uve  to  enjoy 
his  victory.  He  was  stricken  with  apoplexy  and 
died  while  the  siege  was  going  on. 

If  Solyman  had  devoted  himself  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  his  own  people,  instead  of  spend- 
ing his  life  in  fighting  others,  he  might  have  done 
a  great  deal  of  good;  for  in  the  first  years  of  his 
reign  he  made  excellent  laws.  He  tried  to  do 
justice  to  all;  and  he  severely  punished  any 
officer  of  his  kingdom  who  oppressed  the  people. 

He  was  probal^ly  the  greatest  of  all  the  sul- 
tans of  Turkey. 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE 

1540-1596 

Queen  Elizabeth — popularly  known  as  ''Good 
Queen  Bess" — ascended  the  throne  of  England 
in  1558.  Her  reign  was  both  magnificent  and 
successful;  and  it  added  much  to  the  greatness 
of  the  nation. 

It  was  during  EHzabeth's  reign  that  England 
first  became  a  great  naval  power;  and  among 
the  men  who  helped  to  make  her  so,  none  were 
more   famous   than   Sir   Francis   Drake. 

There  is  some  doubt  about  the  date  of  Drake's 
birth.  It  is  now  generally  believed  that  he  was 
born  in  1540,  though  some  writers  put  the  date 
at  least  five  years  earlier. 

The  place  of  his  birth  was  the  little  town  of 
Tavistock,  in  Devonshire.  He  seems  to  have 
had  a  great  love  for  the  sea  even  when  but  a 
child.  His  parents  were  too  poor  to  help  him 
into  a  good  position,  and  so  he  began  his  career 
at  sea  as  a  cabin  boy.  But  he  had  the  merit 
of  pluck;  and  he  soon  rose  to  the  highest  rank 
in   the   English   navy. 

In  1567  he  went  with  his  uncle  Hawkins,  who 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  97 

was  one  of  the  noted  sailors  of  that  day,  on  a 
slave-trading  voyage  to  Africa  and  the  West 
Indies.  The  experiences  he  met  with,  at  that 
time  gave  color  to  the  rest  of  his  Ufe. 

Being  driven  out  of  their  course  by  storms, 
they  were  obliged  to  seek  shelter  in  the  harbor 
of  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  a  Spanish  port  on  the 
coast  of  Mexico.  There  they  were  received  with 
a  show  of  kindness,  but  were  afterwards  at- 
tacked by  a  superior  force,  and  only  two  vessels 
escaped. 

After  this  act  of  treachery,  Drake  resolved 
to  seize  every  opportunity  to  plunder  the  Spani- 
ards and  thus  to  make  good  the  loss  which  he 
and    his    uncle    had    sustained. 

In  the  years  1570-71  Drake  made  two  other 
voyages  to  the  West  Indies  for  the  purpose  of 
becoming  acquainted  with  the  situation  and 
strength   of   the  Spanish   settlements. 

In  1572,  he  sailed  again  with  two  ships,  one  of 
seventy-five  tons,  the  other  of  twenty-five.  His 
plan  was  to  capture  the  town  of  Nombre  de 
Dios  (nom'  bra  da  dyos')  on  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  which  was  the  port  from  which  the 
Spaniards  shipped  to  Spain  the  gold  and  silver 
taken    from    the    mines   of   Peru. 

In  the  attempt  to  take  this  town  Drake  was 

HAAKEN-M.T.-7 


98  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

severely  wounded.  He  tried  to  conceal  his  hurt 
from  his  men;  and  they  pressed  onward  into  the 
town.  But  just  as  they  reached  the  market 
place  where  they  hoped  to  find  the  treasure, 
he  fainted  from  loss  of  blood.  His  men  at  once 
carried  him  to  his  ship,  and  the  enterprise  was 
abandoned. 

As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  do  so,  he  began  to 
sail  back  and  forth  along  the  coast.  He  seized 
a  large  number  of  ships,  and  took  from  them  a 
great  amount  of  wealth  both  in  money  and 
goods. 

He  formed  an  alliance  with  a  band  of  run- 
away slaves  called  Cimarrones  (the  ma  ro'  nes), 
and  together  they  built  a  fort  on  a  small  island 
at  the  mouth  of  a  river.  There  Drake  and  his 
men  remained  until  February  3,  1573. 

On  that  day  Drake  set  out,  with  some  Cimar- 
rones as  guides,  to  cross  the  Isthmus  of  Pana- 
ma and  gain  his  first  view  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Half  way  across  the  isthmus  they  led  him  to  a 
tall  tree  standing  on  a  central  hill.  Among  the 
topmost  branches  of  this  tree  there  was  a  plat- 
form on  which  ten  or  twelve  men  might  stand 
at  ease.  Drake  climbed  up  to  this  platform,  and 
was  delighted  to  find  that  from  his  lofty  perch 
he  could  see  both  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific, 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  99 

Drake  returned  to  England  in  the  fall  of  1573, 
carrying  much  treasure  which  he  divided  with 
the  strictest  fairness  among  his  followers.  His 
own  share  was  large  enough  to  enable  him  to 
purchase  three  ships.  With  these  he  sailed  to 
Ireland,  and  there,  as  a  volunteer  under  the 
Earl  of  Essex,  he  ''did  most  excellent  service." 

But  Francis  Drake  is  chiefly  distinguished 
as  the  first  Englishman  who  sailed  round  the 
world.  In  December,  1577,  with  five  little  ves- 
sels, about  the  size  of  those  of  Columbus,  he 
sailed  out  of  the  harbor  of  Plymouth. 

It  took  him  seven  months  to  reach  Patagonia, 
and  there  he  remained  for  about  nine  weeks. 
Two  of  his  ships  had  become  so  leaky  as  to  be 
unfit  for  further  service,  and  he  was  compelled 
to  abandon  them.  The  crews  and  stores  were 
taken  on  board  the  other  vessels  and  the  fleet 
started  out  to  sail  through  Magellan  Strait 
in  order  to  reach  the  Pacific. 

It  was  sixty  years  since  Magellan  had  passed 
through  the  strait,  but  Drake's  was  the  first 
I^^ngUsh  expedition  to  follow  the  great  Portu- 
guese navigator  over  this  route. 

While  the  vessels  were  in  the  strait,  one  of 
those  terrific  storms  arose  for  which  the  region 
of   Cape    Horn   is   still   noted.      One   ship  called 


100  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

the  Marigold  was  never  heard  of  again,  and  the 
crew  of  the  Elizabeth  were  so  disheartened  by 
the  terrible  weather  that  they  put  about  and 
returned  to  England. 

Although  Drake  was  left  with  but  a  single 
ship  he  would  not  give  up  the  voyage.  He 
made  his  way  into  the  Pacific,  and  sailed  north- 
ward along  the  coasts  of  Chile  and  Peru. 

The  Spaniards  had  already  estabhshed  colo- 
nies on  the  western  shores  of  South  America. 
Santiago  had  been  founded  nearly  forty  years 
before,  and  Lima  was  already  a  town  of  con- 
siderable size. 

As  Spain  and  England  were  not  friendly  to- 
ward each  other,  it  was  thought  perfectly  right 
to  capture  Spanish  vessels  and  to  plunder  Spanish 
towns;  and  Queen  Elizabeth  had  given  Drake 
a  commission,  signed  with  her  own  hand,  au- 
thorizing him   to   do   this. 

After  plundering  a  number  of  the  Spanish 
settlements  he  pursued  his  voyage  until  he 
reached  the  western  coast  of  North  America. 
Finding  that  his  ship  was  again  in  need  of  re- 
pairs, he  landed  for  that  purpose  at  a  point 
which  is  generally  beheved  to  have  been  the 
harbor  of  San  Francisco. 

From   California   he   sailed   across   the   Pacific 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  101 

and  visited  the  Spice  Islands  and  Java.  Leav- 
ing Java  he  crossed  the  Indian  Ocean  and  passed 
around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  into  the  Atlantic. 
Then,  steering  northward,  he  made  his  way  back 
to  England,  reaching  home  exactly  two  years 
and   ten   months  after   starting  on   the   voyage. 

On  his  arrival  a  banquet  was  prepared  on 
board  the  ship  in  which  he  had  thus  sailed  round 
the  world.  Queen  EKzabeth  was  one  of  the 
guests.  In  honor  of  his  achievement  she  knight- 
ed him  on  the  deck  of  his  ship,  and  it  was  in  this 
way  that  he  came  to  be  called  Sir  Francis  Drake. 

The  Uttle  vessel  had  been  so  battered  by  the 
storms  through  which  it  had  passed  that  it  was 
unfit  for  further  service.  But  Elizabeth  gave 
orders  that  it  should  be  carefully  preserved  as  a 
monument    to   its   famous   captain. 

One  hundred  years  later  it  was  found  that  the 
timbers  were  badly  decayed.  It  was  then  broken 
up.  One  piece  of  the  wood,  that  was  still  sound, 
was  made  into  a  chair  for  King  Charles  II,  who 
afterwards  gave  it  to  the  University  of  Oxford, 
where  it  can  still  be  seen. 

A  few  years  later,  Sir  Francis  rendered  an- 
other valuable  service  to  his  native  land.  Philip 
of  Spain  equipped  an  enormous  fleet  for  the 
purpose    of    invading    England.     Drake    learned 


(102) 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  103 

that  the  larger  part  of  this  fleet  was  in  the  harbor 
of  Cadiz,  making  final  preparations  for  the  voy- 
age. 

He  was  then  at  Lisbon  with  thirty  English 
war  ships  under  his  command.  He  at  once 
sailed  for  Cadiz,  and,  on  arriving,  he  sent  a  fire- 
ship  among  the  Spanish  vessels,  burned  nearly 
a  hundred  of  them,  and  escaped  from  the  harbor 
unharmed. 

This  delayed  the  saiUng  of  the  Spanish  fleet 
for  nearly  a  year,  and  when  at  length  it  ^Ap- 
proached the  shores  of  England,  Drake  did  more, 
perhaps,  than  any  other  man  to  bring  about  its 
overthrow. 

The  Spaniards  had  collected  about  one  hundred 
and  thirty  vessels  of  war,  and  more  than  fifty 
thousand  men,  and  to  this  array  they  gave  the 
proud  title  of  the  ''Invincible  Armada."  Thirty- 
five  thousand  men  w^ere  to  land  at  the  mouth 
of  the  River  Thames  and  another  large  force 
was  to  land  farther  to  the  north.  Then  a  third 
force  threatened  the  west  coast.  In  this  way 
England  was  to  be  attacked  at  three  different 
points  at  the  same  time.  The  Spaniards  thought 
that  the  EngUsh  would  be  bewildered,  and  would 
surrender. 

But  all  this  great  armament  was  not  proj^arrd 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE  105 

without   some    news    of   it   getting    to   England, 
and   preparations   were   made   to   repel   the   foe. 

Troops  were  collected  at  Tilbury  ready  to 
attack  the  Spaniards  in  case  they  succeeded 
in  landing.  The  queen  on  horseback  reviewed 
them,  and  made  a  stirring  speech.  The  mer- 
chants of  London  and  other  ports  offered  their 
ships  to  be  used  as  ships  of  war ;  the  rich  brought 
their  treasures;  the  poor  volunteered  in  the 
army  and  navy.  Thus  the  coast  was  well  guarded 
and  the  number  of  vessels  in  the  fleet  was  in- 
creased from  thirty  to  one  hundred  and  eighty. 

These  carried  about  sixteen  thousand  men 
— not  half  the  number  on  board  the  enemy's 
fleet — but  they  were  sturdy  EngHsh  fighters. 
Howard  was  Lord  High  Admiral,  and  with  him 
were  Drake,  Frobisher,  and  Hawkins,  the  most 
famous  EngUsh  mariners  of  the  time. 

One  evening,  late  in  July,  1588,  beacon  lights 
blazed  all  along  the  coast  of  the  EngUsh  Channel 
telling  the  news  that  the  Spanish  fleet  was  com- 
ing. Next  morning,  arranged  in  a  crescent, 
the  Armada  moved  up  the  Channel.  Its  line 
was   seven    miles    long. 

The  English  fleet  sailed  out  from  Plymouth. 
Its  vessels  were  hght,  while  those  of  the  Spaniards 
were   heavy,    but   more    than    this,    the    English 


106  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

ships  were  finely  managed,  and  their  guns  were 
skilfully  aimed,  while  most  of  the  shots  of  the 
Spaniards  went  over  the  heads  of  the  English. 

The  Spaniards  tried  to  come  to  close  quarters, 
but  the  English  vessels  were  so  steered  that  this 
could  not  be  done.  Day  after  day  for  a  week 
the  fighting  continued. 

The  Spanish  commander  then  led  his  fleet  into 
the  harbor  of  Calais  on  the  French  side  of  the 
Channel,  He  wished  to  get  provisions  and 
powder  and  shot.  He  also  wished  to  get  some 
small  vessels — swift  sailors — with  which  he  might 
match  the  light  ships  of  his  adversaries. 

The  English  fleet  followed,  but  it  would  not 
be  allowed  by  the  French  to  attack  the  Spaniards 
in  the  harbor.  To  force  them  out  into  the  open 
sea,  the  English  turned  eight  of  their  oldest 
and  poorest  vessels  into  fireships.  Tar,  rosin 
and  pitch  were  placed  upon  them.  The  masts 
and  rigging  were  covered  with  pitch.  Their 
guns  were  loaded;  and  thus,  all  ablaze,  they 
were  sent  at  midnight  drifting  into  the  harbor 
with  wind  and  tide.  This  fire  fleet  did  its  work. 
It  did  not  indeed  fire  any  Spanish  ship  but  it 
so  alarmed  the  Spaniards  that  they  sailed  from 
the  harbor  into  the  open  sea,  and  there  the 
English  attacked  them.     Many  of  their  ships  were 


(107) 


108  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

disabled,  and  four  thousand  of  their  men  were 
killed  in  one  day's  fighting. 

Next  day  the  Spanish  commanders  held  a 
council  of  war.  The  question  to  be  decided 
was  whether  to  try  to  sail  home  through  Howard's 
fleet  or  go  round  Scotland  and  avoid  his  guns. 
It  was  determined  to  attempt  the  voyage  round 
Scotland.  So  the  whole  remaining  Spanish  fleet 
of  perhaps  one  hundred  and  twenty  vessels  steered 
toward  the  north. 

On  the  coast  of  Scotland,  there  are  dangerous 
rocks,  and  when  the  shattered  Armada  neared 
the  Orkney  Islands,  violent  storms  arose,  which 
wrecked  many  of  the  ships.  Thus  nature  finished 
what  man  had  begun— the  ruin  of  the  most 
powerful  fleet  that  ever  had  sailed  from  the 
shores  of  Europe.  Only  fifty-four  vessels  and 
about  ten  thousand  men  succeeded  in  returning 
to  Spain.  About  eighty  ships  had  been  de- 
stroyed, and  thousands  of  men  had  perished. 

Ten  years  after  the  destruction  of  the  Armada, 
Sir  Francis  made  one  more  voyage  to  the  West 
Indies.  He  still  cherished  the  plan  of  seizing 
the  town  of  Porto  Bello  on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
and  thus  securing  the  gold  and  silver  brought 
there  for  shipment  to  Spain. 

He  was,  however,  again  doomed  to  disappoint- 


110  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

ment      He   was   stricken   with   fever,    and   died 
on  board  of  his  ship,  January  28,  1596. 

His  body  was  buried  at  sea.  Lord  Macaulay 
wrote  these  Unes  in  reference  to  his  burial: 

''The  waves  became  his  winding  sheet: 

The  waters  were  his  tomb. 
But  for  his  fame — the  mighty  sea 

Has  not  sufficient  room." 

He  left  no  children,  but  his  nephew  was  made 
a  baronet  in  the  reign  of  James  H.  England 
will  always  remember  with  gratitude  the  ser- 
vices he  rendered  in  the  days  of  her  struggle  to 
become  ''mistress  of  the  sea." 


SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH 

1552—1618 

Another  famous  Englishman  who  lived  in  the 
days  of  Queen  Elizabeth  was  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 
He  was  a  soldier  and  statesman,  a  poet  and 
historian,  but  the  most  interesting  fact  about 
him  is  that  he  was  the  first  Enghshman  who 
attempted  to  plant  colonies  in  the  region  now 
known  as  the  United  States. 

He  was  born  in  Devonshire,  England,  in  1552. 
At  about  the  time  that  he  was  growing  up,  great 
sympathy  was  felt  in  England  for  the  Huguenots, 
as  the  French  protestants  were  called,  and  Raleigh 
enlisted  as  a  volunteer  in  the  Huguenot  army. 
He  was  in  France  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  of 
St.  Bartholomew,  in  1572,  but  we  do  not  know 
how  long  he  remained  there. 

In  1580  he  went  to  Ireland  as  captain  of  a 
company  of  a  hundred  men,  to  aid  in  putting 
down  a  rebellion  there. 

Returning  to  England  at  the  age  of  thirty, 
he  became  one  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  courtiers. 
He  constantly  sought  to  please  her.  A  story 
is   told    that   one   day   when   Elizabeth   was  out 


^-A 


m" 


f  w 


.ulliiui»,:l:a!ii 


(112) 


SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH  113 

walking  at  Greenwich,  she  came  to  a  muddy 
place.  Raleigh  was  in  attendance  upon  her, 
and  quickly  took  off  his  costly  coat  and  spread 
it  over  the  mud  so  that  it  formed  a  carpet  for 
the  queen  to  walk  on.  This  gallant  act  is  said 
to  have  gained  him  high  favor  from  Elizabeth. 

Whether  the  story  is  true  or  not  it  is  certain 
that  for  some  years  he  was  the  greatest  favorite 
at    the    court. 

In  Queen  EHzabeth's  reign  the  EngUsh  began 
to  take  great  interest  in  the  new  country  of 
North  America.  Raleigh  and  his  half-brother, 
Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  obtained  from  Queen 
Elizabeth  permission  to  colonize  any  land  in 
North  America  which  was  not  already  claimed 
by    a    Christian    nation. 

Five  ships  were  fitted  out  and  sailed  from 
England,  in  1583,  under  the  command  of  Gilbert. 
Raleigh  was  unable  to  go,  but  he  bore  a  large 
part  of  the  expense  of  the  expedition. 

Hardly  had  the  voyage  begun  when  one  of  the 
ships,  owing  to  sickness  among  the  crew,  was 
oljliged  to  return  to  England.  Gilbert,  with  the 
other  ships,  kept  on  his  course  across  the  At- 
lantic, and  at  last  reached  Newfoundland,  where 
he  went  on  shore  and  took  possession  of  the  island 
in  the  name  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

HAAKEN-M.T.-8 


114  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Gilbert  now  sailed  onward  with  the  fleet. 

Near  Cape  Breton  Island,  the  largest  vessel 
stuck  in  the  mud,  and  was  broken  to  pieces  by 
the  force  of  the  waves;  all  but  fourteen,  out  of 
nearly  a  hundred  men  on  board,  lost  their  lives. 
Gilbert  thought  that  now  it  would  be  impossible 
to  carry  out  the  colonization  plan,  so  with  his 
three  remaining  ships  he  started  back  to  England. 

A  terrible  storm  came  on,  but  the  vessels  kept 
together  for  a  time.  When  last  seen,  Gilbert 
was  sitting  in  the  stern  of  his  ship,  reading  a 
book.  He  shouted  to  those  on  board  the  other 
ships,  ''We  are  as  near  to  heaven  by  sea  as  by 
land."  During  the  night  his  ship  disappeared, 
and  not  one  on  board  was  saved,  but  the  other 
vessels  succeeded  in  reaching  England. 

Raleigh  was  not  discouraged  by  this  failure. 
In  the  following  year  he  sent  to  America  another 
expedition. 

In  due  time  his  vessels  reached  the  coast  of 
what  is  now  known  as  North  Carolina.  Every- 
body was  charmed  with  the  beauty  of  the  country. 
But  after  exploring  the  coast  for  some  distance, 
and  taking  possession  of  the  region  in  the  name 
of  Elizabeth,  the  expedition  for  some  reason 
returned  to  England  without  making  a  settlement. 

The   description   which   the  explorers  gave   of 


SIR  WALTER   RALEIGH 


115 


the  country  which  they  had  visited  interested 
Queen  Elizabeth.  As  she  was  called  the  ''Virgin 
Queen,"  Raleigh  suggested  that  she  should  give 


RALEIGH    ERECTS   QUEEN    ELIZABETH'S   STANDARD 
IN    AMERICA 

the  name  ''Virginia"  to  the  newly  discovered 
territory.  She  did  this,  and  the  state  of  Vir- 
ginia, which  formed  part  of  the  territory  thus 
discovered,   obtained  its  name  in   that  way. 


116  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Raleigh  soon  organized  a  third  expedition 
which  sailed  in  1585  with  about  a  hundred 
colonists.  Seven  vessels  carried  them.  The  fleet 
was  commanded  by  Sir  Richard  Grenville  while 
the  colonists  were  in  charge  of  a  noted  soldier 
named    Ralph   Lane. 

After  a  long  voyage  they  reached  Roanoke 
Island,  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina.  Gren- 
ville returned  to  England  with  the  fleet,  while 
Lane  was  left  on  Roanoke  Island  to  estabHsh  a 
settlement. 

The  colonists  probably  quarreled  with  the 
Indians.  Their  provisions  failed,  and  they  could 
get  none  from  the  red  men.  No  ship  from  Eng- 
land came  with  supplies,  and  the  colonists  were 
thoroughly  discouraged. 

The  next  year  a  fleet  under  command  of  Sir 
Francis  Drake  called  there  by  chance,  and  all 
the    colonists    returned    home. 

One  of  them,  named  Thomas  Hariot,  in  an 
account  of  the  colony,  spoke  of  a  herb  ^'called 
by  the  natives  yppomoc,"  and  told  how  it  was 
smoked  by  them  in  pipes.  This  herb  was  tobacco. 
Hariot  and  his  companions  had  learned  to  like  it, 
and   they   carried   a  quantity  home  with   them. 

This  was  the  first  Virginia  tobacco  imported 
into  England.     Some  of  it  was  given  to  Raleigh 


SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH 


117 


who  smoked  it  in  silver  pipes.     Queen  Elizabeth 

also    learned    the    art,    and    she    made"  smoking 

fashionable  among  people  of  high  rank  in  England. 

In  1587  Raleigh  sent  out  to  Virginia  a  fourth 


Raleigh's  smoking  alarms  his  servant 

expedition.  It  consisted  of  three  ships  carry- 
ing one  hundred  and  fifty  colonists  under  Cap- 
tain White. 

After   landing   his   passengers   White   returned 
to  England  for  supplies.     When  he  got  back  to 


118  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

America,  three  years  later,  he  found  that  the 
colonists  had  disappeared,  and  it  was  never 
learned  what  became  of  them.  Thus  failed  Ral- 
eigh's last  attempt  to  colonize  Virginia. 

So  confident  was  he  that  the  new  world  would 
be  colonized,  that  he  wrote  of  Virginia,  ''I  shall 
yet  live  to  see  it  an  English  nation."  And  this 
he  did,  for  he  Uved  until  1618,  and  Jamestown 
had  then  been  founded   ten  years. 

In  return  for  his  services  in  quelling  the  Irish 
rebellion  the  queen  gave  him  a  large  grant  of 
land  in  Ireland.  The  most  interesting  fact  about 
this  Irish  property  is  that  Raleigh  raised  there 
the  first  potatoes  grown  in  Europe. 

You  have  read  how  Philip  II  of  Spain  at- 
tempted, in  1588,  to  invade  England  with  his 
famous  Armada,  and  how  that  great  fleet  was 
destroyed.  There  w^as  in  England  a  great  hatred 
of  the  Spaniards  and  a  great  desire  to  injure 
them. 

At  that  time  Spain  claimed  most  of  the  new 
world  so  far  as  it  had  been  explored,  and  her 
ships  were  all  the  time  coming  home  laden  with 
the  products  of  her  possessions,  and  particularly 
with  silver  from  her  mines. 

Raleigh  fitted  out  privateers  to  capture  such 
vessels,    and    a    large    Spanish    ship    was    taken. 


SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH  119 

She  was  the  most  valuable  prize  which,  up  to 
that  time,  had  ever  been  brought  into  an  Enghsh 
port.  The  queen  herself  had  an  interest  in  the 
expedition  and  was  greatly  pleased  mth  her 
share  of  the  plunder. 

Raleigh  had  still  a  great  desire  to  plant  colonies, 
and  he  now  turned  his  attention  to  South  America. 
He  placed  a  vessel  in  command  of  a  certain 
Captain  Whiddon,  and  sent  him,  in  1594,  to 
explore  the  region  now  known  as  Guiana. 

Fabulous  stories  had  been  told  of  the  amount 
of  gold  in  this  province.  It  was  said  that  the 
king,  when  he  was  going  to  make  an  offering 
to  his  gods,  covered  his  body  all  over  with  gold 
dust,  and  from  this  the  Spaniards  called  him 
''El  Dorado,"  that  is,  ''the  gilded  man." 

In  1595  Raleigh  himself  set  sail  with  five  ships 
for  the  land  of  "the  Gilded  King."  He  entered 
the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco  and  sailed  up  the  great 
river  for  a  distance  of  about  four  hundred  miles. 
But  the  river  rose  so  high  that  navigation  was 
imperilled;  and  Raleigh  therefore  returned  to 
the  coast  and  soon  afterward  sailed  back  to 
England. 

War  with  Spain  still  continued;  and,  in  1597, 
an  English  expedition  under  Howard  and  Essex 
was  fitted  out  to  attack  Cadiz,  a  seaport  on  the 


120  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Spanish  coast.  Raleigh  was  in  one  of  the  ships 
and  rendered  important  service.  The  English 
destroyed  or  captured  the  ships  of  a  large  Spanish 
fleet  in  the  harbor,  and  the  city  itself  was  sur- 
rendered. 

This  exploit  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  ever 
achieved  by  the  EngHsh  navy.  After  it,  the 
Spaniards  never  regained  their  power  upon  the 
sea. 

All  through  the  reign  of  EHzabeth,  Raleigh 
was  highly  esteemed  by  the  queen  and  by  the 
people.  Up  to  the  date  of  her  death  he  was  a 
member  of  Parhament.  But,  in  1603,  James  I 
succeeded  Elizabeth.  He  dishked  Raleigh,  and 
therefore  stripped  him  of  all  his  offices  and  ac- 
cused him  of  entering  into  a  plot  against  the  king. 

Raleigh  was  arrested  and  brought  to  trial. 
One  who  was  present  wrote  that  when  the  trial 
began,  he  would  have  gone  a  hundred  miles  to 
see  him  hanged;  but  that  before  it  closed,  he 
would  have  gone  two  hundred  to  save  his  Hfe. 

Although  nothing  was  proved  against  him, 
Raleigh  was  condemned  to  death.  Only  when 
he  stood  on  the  scaffold  was  his  sentence  changed 
to    imprisonment    for    life. 

For  thirteen  years  he  was  confined  in  the 
Tower  of  London;    and  there  he  wrote  his  great 


SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH  121 

work  ''The  History  of  the  World."  It  is  re- 
ported that  the  Prince  of  Wales  often  visited 
him  in  the  Tower,  and  said,   ''No  man  but  my 


RALEIGH    PARTING    FROM    HIS    WIFE 


father  would  keep  such  a  bird  in  such  a  cage." 
In  1616  Raleigh  was  released  so  that  he  might 
go  on  another  expedition  to  the  golden  land  of 
Guiana  and  capture  Spanish  merchant  vessels. 
But    disease    broke    out    among    his    crews,    and 


122  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Raleigh  himself  was  stricken  down  with  fever 
before  they  reached  the  Orinoco.  His  son  was 
killed  in  a  fight  with  the  Spaniards;  and,  in  1618, 
the  poor  father  returned  to  England  broken- 
hearted. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  he  was  arrested  and 
condemned  to  die  the  very  next  morning  under 
the  sentence  of  death  which  had  been  passed  upon 
him  fifteen  years  before. 

Even  then  his  courage  did  not  leave  him.  On 
the  scaffold  he  asked  to  see  the  axe.  "This  gives 
me  no  fear,"  he  said.  "It  is  a  sharp  medicine 
to  cure  me  of  all  diseases."  To  someone  who 
told  him  to  lay  his  head  toward  the  north,  he 
replied,  "What  matter  how  the  head  lies,  so  the 
heart  be  right." 

Raleigh's  attempts  at  colonization  were  the 
beginnings  of  the  great  movement  which  led  to 
the  estabhshment  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies;  and 
those  colonies  formed  the  basis  for  the  United 
States  of  America. 


HENRY  OF  NAVARRE 

1553-1610 

In  the  year  1569  the  CathoKcs  of  France  and 
the  Huguenots,  or  French  Protestants,  were  en- 
gaged in  a  bitter  and  bloody  war.  Although  re- 
ligion played  a  great  part  in  the  war  it  was  really 
more  of  a  political  than  a  religious  struggle. 

In  the  early  summer  of  that  year  the  Catholics 
won  a  great  \dctory  near  the  town  of  Jarnac 
(zhar'  nack).  Among  those  who  fell  in  the  battle 
was  the  great  Protestant  leader,  Louis,  Prince  of 
Conde. 

The  remnant  of  the  Protestant  army  lay  in 
camp  near  the  castle  of  Cognac  (Con'  yak).  They 
were  sad  and  dispirited.  Suddenly  trumpets 
and  drums  were  heard  in  the  distance;  and  a 
sentry  announced  that  a  band  of  soldiers  was 
approaching.  It  was  soon  learned  that  they 
were  Huguenots,  and  the  defeated  Protestants 
were  very  glad  to  see  them. 

They  proved  to  be  the  escort  of  Jeanne  d' Albert, 
Queen  of  Beam,  a  little  kingdom  in  the  extreme 
southwest  of  PVance.  The  people  over  whom 
she  ruled  were  Protestants;    and  as  soon  as  she 


124  FAMOUS   MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

heard  of  the  death  of  Conde  she  hastened  to  the 
Protestant  camp. 

The  army  was  drawn  up  to  receive  her.  Step- 
ping forward,  and  holding  her  son  by  the  hand, 
she  said,  ''My  friends,  our  cause  has  not  died  with 
the  Prince  of  Conde.  We  have  still  left  us  brave 
captains.  I  offer  to  you  as  leader,  Conde's 
nephew,  my  son,  the  Prince  of  Navarre." 

With  loud  shouts  of  ''Long  live  Henry,  the 
Prince  of  Navarre,"  the  soldiers  at  once  elected 
him    as    their    commander-in-chief. 

Prince  Henry  was  the  son  of  Anthony  of  Bour- 
bon and  Queen  Jeanne.  He  was  born  in  1553, 
and  therefore  was  but  sixteen  years  old  when 
called  to  fill  this  high  position. 

He  was  too  young  to  lead  the  troops  in  battle; 
but  he  was  ready  to  learn  how  to  do  so.  The 
brave  Admiral  CoUgni  (ko  leen  ye)  agreed  to 
instruct  him,  and  to  command  the  Protestant 
forces  until  he  was  able  to  do  so. 

Henry  was  a  sturdy  and  well-grown  lad.  His 
life  had  been  a  simple  one.  His  principal  food 
had  been  the  brown  bread,  the  chestnuts, 
and  such  other  plain  fare  as  was  eaten  by  the 
peasant  boys  who  lived  among  the  mountains 
of  his  mother's  kingdom.  He  would  have 
been   glad    to   go    out   to    battle   at   once;  but 


HENRY  OF  NAVARRE  125 

the     wise      Coligni     would     not     permit     him. 

Henry  was  very  fond  of  reading.  His  favorite 
books  were  those  containing  the  stories  of  the 
great  conquerors  of  former  times.  He  also  read, 
many  times  over,  the  story  of  the  good  knight 
Bayard — the  knight  without  fear  and  without 
reproach — who  had  lived  not  very  long  before. 

When  not  yet  twenty  years  old,  Henry  was 
married  to  Margaret  of  Valois  (vaF  wa),  sister 
of  the  king  of  France.  It  was  hoped  that  this 
marriage  would  bring  peace  to  the  country.  It 
failed  to  do  so,  and  the  war  went  on  for  thirty 
years. 

Only  a  few  days  after  the  wedding  bells  had 
rung  so  joyously  at  Henry's  marriage,  a  very 
sad  event  took  place  which  filled  Europe  with 
horror. 

At  about  four  o'clock,  one  August  morning, 
in  the  year  1572,  the  great  bell  on  the  Palace  of 
Justice  awakened  the  people  of  Paris;  and  the 
soldiers  of  the  Catholic  party  began  to  attack  the 
Huguenots.  When  news  of  this  massacre  reached 
other  French  cities  similar  attacks  were  made  and  a 
great  many  Protestants  were  slain.  The  number 
has  been  variously  estimated,  some  authorities  stat- 
ing that  about  a  thousand  in  all  were  killed,  others 
that  the  number  reached  a  hundred  thousand. 


126  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

This  was  called  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew, because  it  happened  on  St.  Bartholomew's 
Day. 

The  young  Prince  Henry  was  kept  a  prisoner 
in  the  king's  palace  for  nearly  four  years.  Then 
he  escaped  and  again  became  the  leader  of  the 
Huguenots. 

He  was  so  anxious  for  the  restoration  of  peace 
that  he  sent  to  the  Duke  of  Guise,  who  com- 
manded the  Cathohc  army,  this  challenge:  "I 
offer  to  end  the  quarrel.  Either  I  will  fight 
with  you  alone,  or  two  on  our  side  will  fight  with 
two  on  yours,  or  ten  with  ten,  or  whatever  num- 
ber you  please;  so  as  to  stop  the  shedding  of 
blood  and  the  misery  of  the  poor."  But  the 
duke  would  not  accept  the  challenge,  and  the 
war  went  on. 

Henry  III,  King  of  France,  was  a  very  weak 
and  fooUsh  man.  So  the  Duke  of  Guise  deter- 
mined to  dethrone  him  and  make  himself  king. 

As  soon  as  King  Henry  learned  of  this,  he 
sent  an  assassin  to  murder  the  duke.  When 
he  heard  that  Guise  was  dead,  the  king  said  to 
his  mother,  who  was  very  ill :  ''  How  do  you  feel?  " 
''Better,"  she  answered.  ''So  do  I,"  said  the 
king.  "This  morning  I  have  become  king  of 
France  again.     The  king  of  Paris  is  dead." 


HENRY   OF  NAVARRE  127 

The  friends  of  the  murdered  duke  at  once  took  up 
arms  against  King  Henry;  and  the  Sorbonne — the 
great  religious  authority  in  Paris— declared  that 
the  people  were  no  longer  bound  to  obey  him. 

Then  Henry  HI  turned  for  help  to  his  cousin, 
Henry  of  Navarre.  They  agreed  to  fight  side 
by  side  against  those  who  had  revolted;  and 
many  of  the  CathoHcs  joined  with  the  Hugue- 
nots in  order  to  bring  about  peace. 

The  rebels  attacked  King  Henry  near  the  city 
of  Tours;  but  the  Prince  of  Navarre  marched  to 
his  aid,  and  the  rebel  leader  left  the  field  in  great 
haste. 

As  the  rebels  had  failed  to  conquer  the  French 
king  in  battle,  they  determined  to  have  him 
murdered.  They  found  a  man  to  carry  out  their 
plot.  One  morning,  he  gained  admission  to  the 
king's  presence  by  saying  that  he  desired  to  see 
him  on  important  business.  As  soon  as  they 
were  left  alone,  the  murderer  handed  Henry  a 
letter;  and  while  the  king  was  reading  it,  he 
drew  a  knife  from  his  sleeve  and  plunged  it  into 
his  body. 

A  messenger  was  sent  in  haste  to  tell  Henry 
of  Navarre.  As  he  entered  the  king's  room 
the  tears  gushed  from  his  eyes,  and  he  kissed 
the  dying  man  with  great  tenderness. 


128  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Many  of  the  nobility  of  France  had,  by  this 
time,  come  in  to  see  their  dying  ruler;  King 
Henry  begged  them  to  acknowledge  Henry  of 
Navarre  as  his  lawful  successor;  and  all  present 
agreed  to  do  so.  So  the  Prince  of  Navarre  be- 
came king  of  France,  with  the  title  of  Henry 
IV. 

The  rebels  were  not  satisfied  with  this  ar- 
rangement, since  the  law  of  the  kingdom  declared 
that  no  man  could  be  king  unless  he  were  a  Catho- 
lic. They  demanded  that  Cardinal  de  Bourbon, 
Henry's  uncle,  should  be  made  king  with  the  title 
of  Charles  I. 

Preparations  were  made  for  a  great  battle 
near  the  town  of  Arques  (ark).  During  the 
night  the  forces  of  the  new  king  had  dug  trenches 
and  thrown  up  earthworks  so  as  to  give  them  a 
greater  advantage  over  the  enemy. 

Next  morning  a  rebel  sentry,  who  had  been 
captured  during  the  night,  was  brought  before 
him.  As  they  talked  together  the  man  said, 
''We  are  about  to  attack  you  with  thirty  thousand 
foot  and  ten  thousand  horse.  Where  are  your 
forces?" 

"  Oh,"  said  the  king,  "  you  do  not  see  them  all. 
You  do  not  count  the  good  God  and  the  good 
right;   but  they  are  ever  with  me." 


HENRY  OF  NAVARRE  129 


t< 


A  bloody  battle  followed,  in  wliich  the  king 
gained  a  wonderful  \dctory.  Soon  after  this  he 
was  joined  b}^  a  body  of  English  and  Scotch 
soldiers  sent  him  by  Queen  Elizabeth  of  Eng- 
land; and  his  army  was  thus  increased  to  over 
ten  thousand  men. 

One  day  a  carrier  pigeon  flew  into  the  camp. 
It  brought  a  strip  of  paper  inclosed  in  a  quill. 
On  the  paper  were  ^vritten  the  words,  'Xome, 
Come,    Come." 

The  king  at  once  understood  that  he  was  needed 
at  Paris;  for  that  city  was  now  in  the  hands  of 
the  rebels.     He  therefore  hastened  to  its  rehef. 

The  king  was  not  yet  prepared  to  capture 
Paris.  But  he  attacked  many  other  cities;  and 
about  twenty  of  them  opened  their  gates  and 
received   him  as   their  sovereign. 

Then  followed  the  famous  battle  of  Ivry,  in 
which  the  cannon,  the  colors,  and  nearly  all  the 
supphes  of  the  rebels  fell  into  the  king's  hands. 
On  the  rebel  side  the  loss  in  killed,  wounded 
and  captured  was  over  eleven  thousand,  while 
the  king  lost  but  five  hundred  men. 

Very  soon  after  the  battle  of  Ivry,  Cardinal 
de  Bourbon  died;  and  at  about  the  same  time 
the  king  laid  siege  to  Paris  which  was  still  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

HAAREN-M.T.-9 


(130) 


HENRY    IV  AT  IVRY 


Royer 


HENRY  OF  NAVARRE  131 

Before  closing  up  all  the  avenues  of  approach 
to  Paris  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  governor  of  the 
city,  in  which  he  said:  ^'I  am  anxious  for  peace. 
I  love  my  city  of  Paris.  She  is  my  eldest  daugh- 
ter, and  I  wish  to  do  her  more  favors  than  she 
asks."  But  it  was  all  in  vain,  and  the  siege 
went  on. 

Iving  Henry's  army  prevented  the  carrying 
of  food  into  the  city,  and  the  people  soon  began 
to  suffer.  Bread  gave  out  and  the  people  were 
glad  to  eat  rats,  cats,  dogs,  horses,  or  anything 
else  they  could  find  to  prevent  starvation. 

Iving  Henry  allowed  the  women  and  children 
to  leave  the  city.  He  even  permitted  supplies 
to  pass  through  his  lines  to  relieve  the  besieged, 
saying,  as  he  did  so,  "I  do  not  wish  to  be  king 
of  the  dead." 

But  just  as  Paris  was  on  the  point  of  sur- 
rendering, the  Duke  of  Parma,  one  of  the  ablest 
generals  in  the  service  of  Philip  II  of  Spain, 
arrived  })efore  Paris  with  a  large  Spanish  army 
and  compelled  Henry  to  raise  the  siege. 

The  king  now  felt  that  the  only  way  in  which 
he  could  give  peace  to  his  people  was  by  uniting 
himself  with  the  Catholic  Church;  and  this  he 
determined  to  do. 

At  eight  o'clock   on   the   morning  of  July  23, 


132  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

1593,  robed  in  white  satin,  he  marched  with  a 
bodyguard  of  soldiers  to  the  church  of  St.  Denis, 
near  Paris.  At  the  door  of  the  church  he  was 
met  by  a  cardinal,  an  archbishop,  nine  bishops 
and  large  numbers  of  clergy  and  monks. 

''Who  are  you?"  asked  the  archbishop. 

''The   king,"   replied   Henry. 

"What  do  you  wish?"  was  the  archbishop's 
next  inquiry. 

To  this  the  king  replied,  "To  be  received  into 
the  Catholic  Church."  Then  the  king  knelt 
and  declared  his  belief,  after  which  the  arch- 
bishop forgave  and  then  formally  received  him. 

After  this  ceremony  Henry  was  anointed  at 
Chartres  (shart'r),  and  thus  declared  sovereign 
of    the    whole    kingdom. 

Henry's  great  desire  now  was'  to  make  his 
people  prosperous.  He  once  said  "I  wish  every 
peasant  in  France  to  have  a  fowl  in  the  pot  every 
Sunday." 

To  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  all  further  wars 
about  religion,  he  signed  and  published  the 
famous  Edict  of  Nantes,  in  1595. 

This  royal  decree  gave  the  Protestants  equal 
rights  with  the  Catholics.  The  government 
agreed  to  pay  the  salaries  of  their  clergy  as 
well  as    those    of    the    Catholics.      The   Protes- 


(133; 


MUHDEU    OF     IIEMIY     IV 


134  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

tant  children  were  allowed  to  enter  the  uni- 
versities and  colleges;  their  sick  were  received 
into  the  hospitals;  and  the  two  great  religious 
parties  of  the  nation  were  placed  upon  a  com- 
mon footing. 

The  last  years  of  King  Henry  IV  were  years  of 
peace  and  prosperity.  The  farmers  and  trades- 
people were  happy.  The  heavy  debt  which 
had  lain  for  so  many  years  upon  France  was  en- 
tirely removed;  and  the  taxes  were  reduced  to 
a  rate  lower  than  ever  before. 

In  the  midst  of  this  growing  sense  of  security 
and  comfort  all  France  was  suddenly  shocked 
and  distressed  beyond  measure.  A  madman, 
by  the  name  of  Ravaillac  (ra  vl  yack'),  stabbed 
the  king  to  the  heart;  and  the  career  of  the  noble 
and  generous  Henry  of  Navarre  was  at  an  end. 


WALLENSTEIN 

1583-1634 

A  bloody  religious  war  broke  out  in  Germany 
in  1618,  and  as  it  lasted  until  1648  it  is  called 
''The  Thirty  Years'  War."  This  war  was  one  of 
the  most  dreadful  that  ever  raged  in  Europe. 
It  was  a  struggle  between  the  Catholic  and  Protes- 
tant parties,  like  that  in  France  which  we  have 
read  about  in  the  story  of  Henry  of  Navarre. 

Many  Catholics  and  Protestants  opposed  each 
other  because  they  wished  to  defend  their  belief  as 
well  as  to  convert  others  to  it.  But  many  of  the 
princes  and  nobles  used  the  disturbed  religious 
conditions  to  increase  their  power.  Thus  religion 
and  politics  were  closely  united,  and  the  lines 
were  drawn  between  two  great  parties,  the  Catho- 
lic League  and  the  Evangelical  Union.  Therefore 
all  through  those  thirty  years  the  Catholics  and 
the  Protestants  of  Germany  strove  with  all  their 
might  to  overcome  and  destroy  one  another. 

Of  course  this  great  war  required  great  leaders. 
The  ablest  general  on  the  Catholic  side  was 
Albrecht  von  Wallenstein  (f on  woF  en  stin) ,  who 
was    born    in    l^ohemia    in    1583.     His    parents 


136  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

were  Protestants.  They  died  while  he  was  yet 
a  child;  and  he  was  brought  up  by  an  uncle  who 
was   a   Catholic. 

This  uncle  sent  him  for  his  early  education  to 
the  Jesuit  College  at  Olmutz  (oF  mtitz),  and 
afterwards  to  the  universities  of  Bologna  and 
Padua.  While  at  the  Jesuit  College,  Wallen- 
stein  became  a  CathoHc,  and  this  changed  his 
whole  career. 

Wallenstein  inherited  from  his  father  a  large 
estate  and  an  immense  sum  of  money.  By  his 
marriage  with  an  aged  widow  his  wealth  was 
nearly  doubled;  and  when  his  uncle  died  and 
left  him  his  property,  Wallenstein  became  one 
of  the  richest  men  of  his  day. 

His  aged  wife  did  not  live  long  after  their  mar- 
riage, and  he  took  for  his  second  wife  a  daughter 
of  the  Count  of  Harrach.  By  this  second  mar- 
riage his  wealth  was  again  increased ;  and  through 
his  wife's  father,  he  gained  much  influence  and 
many  friends  at  the  court  of  Vienna. 

After  completing  his  education  he  traveled 
through  Italy,  Spain,  France,  and  Holland.  He 
served  for  a  short  time  in  Hungary  in  the  army 
of  the  Emperor  Rudolf  who  was  then  at  war 
with  the  Turks.  But  as  yet  he  did  not  display 
any  marked  abiUty  as  a  soldier. 


138  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

With  a  part  of  his  wealth  he  purchased  from 
the  emperor  of  Austria,  a  vast  territory  in  Bo- 
hemia and  Moravia,  at  a  cost  of  over  seven 
million  florins.  To  this  territory  he  gave  the 
name  of  Friedland,  that  is,  Land  of  Peace. 

The  emperor  gave  him  the  title  of  Duke  of 
Friedland;  and  he  managed  his  duchy  wisely 
and  well.  Justice  was  so  faithfully  administered 
in  the  courts  that  all  men  had  their  rights;  and 
the  farmers,  miners,  and  manufacturers  were 
properly  cared  for. 

When  the  ''Thirty  Years'  War"  broke  out 
Wallenstein  raised  a  regiment  of  dragoons  to 
aid  the  cause  of  the  emperor.  He  was  also  the 
means  of  saving  the  money  in  the  imperial 
treasury  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

As  Wallenstein  came  more  fully  into  notice 
his  ambition  steadily  increased.  In  all  that  he 
did,  he  seemed  to  have  an  eye  to  his  own  ad- 
vantage. 

After  the  war  had  been  going  on  for  some  time, 
the  emperor  found  himself  sorely  in  need  of  a 
better  army.  Then  Wallenstein  called  upon  him 
and  said,  ''My  liege,  you  shall  have  such  an  army 
as  you  require.  I  myself  will  bear  the  expense 
of  equipping  it.  I  make,  however,  this  condition, 
that  I  shall  have  the  right  to  compel  the  people 


WALLENSTEIN 


139 


in  any  part  of  the  empire  where  my  troops  may 
be  fighting  to  supply  them  with  provisions;" 
and  to  this  condition  the  emperor  agreed. 

Wallenstein  soon  made  for  himself  a  reputation 


fm 

P 

■1 

M 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B&___: 

LIVING    OFF   THE    COUNTRY 


as  a  great  commander.  There  were  plenty  of 
men  in  Germany  who  were  ready  to  fight  for  pay 
and  plunder,  and  he  therefore  soon  raised  a  force 
of  over  thirty  thousand  soldiers.  He  himself 
went  with   them   to  the  front. 

During    the   first    two   years   Wallenstein    and 
his    men    were    everywhere    successful,    but    at 


140  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

length  they  met  with  a  severe  check.  They  had 
laid  siege  to  a  large  commercial  city  called  Stral- 
sund  (straF  soond) .  This  was  one  of  the  wealthi- 
est ports  on  the  Baltic.  It  exported  a  great 
deal  of  grain  and  other  produce,  and  vessels 
flying  its  flag  were  seen  in  every  harbor  of 
Em'ope. 

Wallenstein  determined  to  capture  Stralsund. 
His  soldiers  knew  that  if  he  succeeded,  they 
would  get  a  vast  amount  of  plunder,  and  an 
abundance  of  provisions  for  their  future  use. 

Wallenstein  had  more  in  mind  than  that. 
He  planned  to  turn  the  merchant  vessels  of 
Stralsund  into  battle  ships,  and  thus  secure  a  fleet 
which  would  enable  him  to  carry  on  the  war  by 
sea  as  well  as  by  land.  He  would  then  attack 
the  other  great  ports  of  Germany,  such  as  Lu- 
beck,  Hamburg  and  Bremen. 

All  these  ports  had  large  fleets  of  merchant' 
ships.  He  planned  that  after  taking  these  he 
would  make  his  navy  the  largest  in  the  world. 
He  even  dreamed  of  capturing  the  ships  of  Eng- 
land, Sweden,  and  the  Netherlands,  and  thus 
making  himself  master  of  the  sea. 

It  was  with  these  thoughts  in  his  mind  that 
Wallenstein  laid  siege  to  the  great  port  of  Stral- 
sund.    He  swore  that  he  would  capture  it  ''even 


WALLENSTEIN  141 

if  he  found  it  to  be  fastened  to  heaven  with 
chains  of  gold." 

But  Stralsund  was  well  suppUed  with  pro- 
visions; and,  for  eleven  weeks,  the  brave  citizens 
repelled  his  attacks.  Wallenstein's  men  began 
to  suffer  for  lack  of  food;  and  at  last  the  great 
commander  was  forced  to  abandon  the  siege. 

Every  year  a  festival  of  rejoicing  is  still  held 
in  Stralsund  to  commemorate  the  day  on  which 
Wallenstein  and  his  starving  army  retreated, 
baffled  and  angry,  from  before  its  walls. 

Wallenstein  had  won  so  many  victories  that 
some  of  those  who  fought  on  his  side  had  be- 
come jealous  of  him.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  he 
met  with  this  great  reverse  at  Stralsund,  his 
enemies  persuaded  the  emperor  to  take  the  com- 
mand of  the  army  away  from  him. 

They  made  the  emperor  believe  that  he  was  a 
very  dangerous  man,  and  that  with  his  large  army 
which  had  grown  very  fond  of  him,  he  meant 
to  rule  all  Germany,  and  lord  it  over  every  prince 
and  duke  in  the  empire. 

The  emperor  at  once  wrote  him  a  letter  or- 
dering him  to  give  up  his  command.  Although 
greatly  surprised,  Wallenstein  took  his  dismissal 
in  silence.  He  bade  farewell  to  his  troops,  and 
went  to  live  quietly  in  the  capital  of  his  duchy. 


142  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN   TIMES 

Not  long  after  Wallenstein  had  left  the  army 
the  emperor  found  that  he  had  made  a  mistake. 
Instead  of  hearing  of  victory  after  victory,  he 
now  received  news  of  one  defeat  after  another. 
His  second-best  general  was  fatally  wounded; 
and  he  had  no  one  Hke  Wallenstein  to  put  in 
command   of   the   army. 

After  suffering  a  number  of  disastrous  defeats 
the  emperor  sent  to  Wallenstein  and  begged  him 
to  take  command  once  more.  He  gave  him 
permission  to  choose  his  own  officers,  and  to 
carry  on  the  war  just  as  he  thought  best.  He 
also  promised  that,  in  future,  no  one  should  in- 
terfere with  him. 

On  these  terms  Wallenstein  again  accepted 
the  emperor's  offer,  and  was  soon  back  in  the 
field  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  forty  thousand 
men. 

By  this  time,  however,  a  greater  general  than 
even  Wallenstein  had  become  the  leader  of  the 
Protestant  forces.  This  was  the  famous  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden,  whose  bravery  had 
already  been  shown  on  many  a  bloody  field. 

The  two  commanders  and  their  armies  met 
near  a  place  called  Lutzen  (loot' sen),  in  Saxony, 
and  there  a  fearful  battle  was  fought. 

In  this  battle  Gustavus  lost  his  life,   but  his 


WALLENSTEIN  143 

army  fought  on  nobly  and  won  the  day.  The 
victory  at  Lutzen  is  always  spoken  of  as  the 
greatest  victory  of  the  "Thirty  Years'  War." 

When  Wallenstein  found  that  the  Protestant 
army  had  won  the  battle  in  spite  of  the  loss  of 
its  commander,  he  became  greatly  troubled,  and 
scarcely  knew  what  to  do.  He  seemed  afraid 
to  meet  such  an  army  again. 

He  doubtless  saw  that  it  was  useless  to  con- 
tinue the  war,  and  hoped  that  the  emperor  would 
make  terms  to  the  Protestants,  and  so  establish 
peace. 

Wallenstein 's  enemies  again  appeared  before 
the  emperor  with  the  old  story  that  he  was  simply 
fighting  for  himself,  and  was  determined  to 
make  himself  ruler  over  the  entire  nation. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  emperor  again  be- 
lieved them.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  call 
Wallenstein  a  traitor,  and  he  caused  him  to  be 
publicly  disgraced  and  again  removed  from  com- 
mand. 

With  a  guard  of  about  a  thousand  men,  and 
accompanied  by  several  of  his  leading  officers, 
Wallenstein  left  the  camp  and  once  more  started 
for  his  home.  He  supposed  that  all  who  ac- 
companied him  were  his  faithful  friends.  But 
it  was  not  so.     Four  of  the  men  whom  he  thus 


(144) 


WALLENSTEIN  145 

trusted  had  already  agreed  to  assassinate  him. 
Having  first  murdered  his  real  friends,  they 
hurried  to  the  house  where  Wallenstein  was 
staying,  broke  into  his  room,  and  killed  him  as 
he  was  retiring  to  rest.  It  is  said  that,  for  this 
shocking  crime,  the  murderers  were  handsomely 
rewarded  by  the  emperor. 

Wallenstein  ranks  as  one  of  the  world's  greatest 
soldiers,  rather  than  as  one  of  its  greatest  heroes. 
His  work  was  a  hindrance. rather  than  a  help  to 
human  progress,  and  this  it  is  which  so  largely 
dims  his  fame. 


HAAKEN-M.T.-IO 


GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS 
1594-1632 

In  the  year  1594  a  child  was  born  in  the  royal 
palace  of  Stockholm  who  was  destined  to  have 
great  influence  upon  the  history  of  modern 
Europe. 

He  was  the  son  of  Charles  IX,  king  of  Sweden, 
and  a  grandson  of  the  famous  hero,  Gustavus 
Vasa.  He  was  given  the  name  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus. 

As  soon  as  he  was  old  enough  to  begin  his 
education  he  was  provided  with  the  best  of 
teachers.  He  soon  learned  to  speak  Latin, 
Greek,  German,  Dutch,  French,  and  Italian, 
but  before  he  was  eighteen  his  studies  were 
brought  to  an  end  by  the  death  of  his  father. 
He  was  at  once  proclaimed   king  of    Sweden. 

Gustavus  had  been  carefully  instructed  in 
athletics,  especially  in  riding,  fencing,  and  mili- 
tary drill.  He  was  a  boy  of  muscle  as  well  as 
of  mind,  and  he  soon  proved  the  value  of  both. 

At  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  Sweden 
was  at  war  with  Denmark.  The  Danes  had 
captured  the  two  most  important  fortresses  of 
Sweden.     Gustavus  was  determined  to  win  them 


GUSTAVUS   ADOLPHUS 


147 


back,  and  he  continued  the  war  with  great  vigor. 

A  few  months  after  his  accession  the  Danes 
sent  a  fleet  of  thirty-six  ships  against  Stock- 
holm, but  Gustavus,  marching  night  and  day, 
led  his  army  to  a  point  from  which  he  could 
^  at  tack  the  Danish 
fleet  with  advantage. 
A  storm  also  hinder- 
ed the  Danes  from 
landing,  and  they  re- 
turned home  dis- 
appointed. 

When  the  king  of 
Denmark  heard  of 
these  rapid  marches, 
and  found  that  he 
had  no  mere  boy  to 
contend  with,  he  con- 
sented to  a  treaty 
of  peace  by  which 
Sweden  regained  one  of  her  fortresses  and  was 
permitted   to  buy  back  -the   other. 

From  1614  to  1617,  Gustavus  was  at  war  with 
Russia  to  recover  the  pay  due  to  Swedish  soldiers 
which  his  father  had  sent  to  Russia  a  few  years 
before. 

In  that  war  he  took  from  Russia  the  two  prov- 


GUSTAVUS   ADOLPHTJS 


Van   Dyck 


148  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

inces  of  Carelia  and  Ingria.  These  provinces 
remained  in  the  possession  of  Sweden  for  more 
than  a  hundred  years,  serving  as  a  great  barrier 
between  Russia  and  the  Baltic  Sea.  Even  the 
land  on  which  St.  Petersburg  now  stands  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Swedes;  and  at  the  close 
of  the  war,  Gustavus  declared,  ^'The  enemy 
cannot  now  launch  a  boat  on  the  Baltic  without 
our  permission." 

When  Gustavus  came  to  the  throne,  Sweden 
was  at  war  also  with  Poland.  The  cause  of  the 
war  was  this:  Charles  IX,  the  father  of  Gusta- 
vus, was  not  the  true  heir  to  the  Swedish  crown. 
It  belonged,  by  right,  to  Sigismund,  king  of 
Poland. 

Sigismund  had  tried  to  take,  the  crown  of 
Sweden  from  Charles;  and  he  now  tried  to  take 
it  from  Gustavus.  But  Gustavus  won  a  great 
victory  over  Sigismund  and  forced  him  to  abandon 
his  claim  to  the  throne  and  to  make  a  peace  which 
was  of  great  advantage  to  Sweden. 

Ten  years  before  the  birth  of  Gustavus  a  new 
star  had  suddenly  appeared  in  the  northern 
skies  of  Europe;  and  people  thought  that  won- 
ders in  the  heavens  had  much  to  do  with  events 
upon    the    earth. 

The  new  star  rapidly  became  one  of  the  bright- 


GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS  149 

est  in  the  firmament.  It  could  be  seen  by  men 
with  keen  eyes  even  in  the  day  time.  But  it 
soon  began  to  lose  its  brilliancy,  and  in  about  a 
year  and  a  half  it  disappeared  entirely. 

When  Gustavus  Adolphus  startled  Europe  by 
his  briUiant  victories  over  Denmark,  Russia, 
and  Poland,  men  began  to  believe  that  the  won- 
derful star  foreshadowed  the  wonderful  boy  king 
of  Sweden. 

Some,  however,  began  to  speak  of  him  as  the 
snow  king,  and  declared  that  he  w^ould  soon 
melt.  Finally,  they  came  to  think  of  him  rather 
as  one  of  the  old  Scandinavian  war  gods,  and 
they  found  that  he  was  equal  to  greater  tasks 
than  those  he  had  already  accompHshed. 

The  empire  of  Germany  was,  at  that  time, 
divided  against  itself.  The  ^'Thirty  Years' War" 
was  raging.  The  grain  fields  were  trampled 
down  by  marching  troops.  Towns  were  be- 
sieged and  burned.  Innocent  people  were  de- 
stroyed by  thousands.  Two  great  generals — 
Wallenstein  and  Tilly — were  filling  the  empire 
with  horrors. 

In  1631  the  city  of  Magdeburg  was  taken  by 
Tilly.  Its  little  garrison  of  twenty-four  hundred 
men  had  made  a  nol^le  defense,  but  Tilly  had 
no  respect  for  their  Ijravery.     As  soon  as  the  city 


TILLY    AT    MAGDEBURG 


(150) 


GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS  151 

fell  into  his  hands  he  put  these  brave  soldiers 
to  death;  and  during  the  next  two  days  his 
soldiers  pillaged  the  city  and  slaughtered  niore 
than  twenty  thousand  of  the  inhabitants. 

All  Europe  was  horrified.  Gustavus  Adolphus 
gathered  an  army  of  thirteen  thousand  chosen 
men  and  at  once  invaded  Saxony. 

On  the  outskirts  of  the  little  town  of  Breiten- 
feld,  not  far  from  Leipzig,  Gustavus  met  the  in- 
human Tilly  and  defeated  him  in  battle. 

The  people  of  Saxony  were  wild  with  de- 
light. They  gladly  opened  the  gates  of  their 
cities  to  welcome  the  conqueror  of  the  dreaded 
Tilly.  Thousands  flocked  to  the  standard  of 
Gustavus  and  his  army  was  soon  more  than 
four  times  as  large  as  when  he  had  left 
Sweden. 

With  this  large  body  of  fresh  troops  at  his 
command,  Gustavus  determined  to  follow  the 
German  army  which  had  retreated  into  Bavaria. 

Having  overtaken  the  Germans,  he  at  once 
put  his  army  into  line  and  began  the  attack. 
In  the  desperate  battle  which  ensued  Tilly  was 
mortally  wounded;  and  he  died  as  he  was  being 
carried  from  the  field. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  emperor  recalled 
Wallenstein  and  again  placed  him  in  command 


152  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

of  the  German  army,  as  we  have  read  in  the 
previous  story. 

It  was  not  long  before  Gustavns  and  Wallen- 
stein  found  themselves  face  to  face  upon  the 
field  of  combat.  They  met  in  battle  near  Lut- 
zen,  in  Saxony,  to  which  place  Gustavus  had 
returned  on  account  of  the  large  number  of 
Saxons  in  his  army. 

During  the  morning  a  thick  fog  hung  over 
the  field  and  the  fighting  did  not  begin  until 
nearly  noon.  Then,  as  the  skies  cleared,  the 
king  and  his  army  approached  the  German 
Hues  singing  Luther's  beautiful  hymn,  "A  mighty 
fortress  is  our  God."  As  they  ceased  singing, 
Gustavus  waved  his  sword  above  his  head  and 
cried,  ''Forward!  in  God's  name,"  and  the 
battle  began. 

In  one  particular  Gustavus  was  most  im- 
prudent. A  wound,  received  some  time  before, 
made  it  painful  for  him  to  wear  a  breastplate; 
and  so  he  led  his  troops  into  the  engagement, 
wearing   a   common   riding   coat. 

Early  in  the  afternoon  his  arm  was  pierced 
by  a  ball  from  a  pistol,  and  this  probably  severed 
an  artery. 

For  a  time  he  concealed  his  wound  and  con- 
tinued   to    encourage    his    men.     But    he    grew 


GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS  153 

faint  from  loss  of  blood,  and  finally  said  to  one 
of  the  princes  riding  near  him,  ''Cousin,  lead 
me  out  of  this  tumult.     I  am  hurt." 

As  they  turned,  a  musket  ball  struck  the  king 
in  the  back,   and  he  fell  to  the  ground  dying. 

Some  of  Wallenstein's  men  rode  up  and  in- 
quired his  name.  ''I  am  Sweden's  king,"  he 
replied.  ''I  am  sealing  the  religion  and  the 
liberty  of  the  German  nation  with  my  blood." 

When  the  troops  of  Gustavus  learned  of  his 
death,  they  attacked  the  enemy  with  such  fury 
that  Wallenstein  was  quickly  defeated;  and 
Gustavus  won  the  battle  although  he  lost  his 
life. 

Suddenly  the  star  in  the  north  had  become 
the  most  brilliant  in  the  heavens;  and  as  sud- 
denly its  light  w^as  quenched.  .  The  snow  king 
had  melted  at  last. 

But  a  great  work  had  been  done.  Gustavus 
and  his  brave  band  of  Swedes  had  inspired  half 
a  continent  with  hope  and  courage.  His  splendid 
victories  also  did  much  to  crush  the  tyrannical 
power  of  Germany;  and  the  good  which  this 
great  man  accomplished  has  had  much  to  do 
with  the  spreading  of  religious  Hberty  over 
Europe. 

Aftci-     the     battle    was    over,    and     just    as 


154 


FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 


twilight  was  gathering,  the  body  of  the  hero 
was  carried  into  a  Uttle  church  near  by,  and  laid 
before  the  altar.  The  soldiers,  still  dressed  in  their 
armor,  were  the  chief  mourners;  and  a  village 
schoolmaster  read  the  simple  service  for  the  dead. 


liOUi     Ol'    Ul I'SIAVU.S    AUOLPHUS   ON    ITS   WAY    TO    SWEDEN 

Next  morning  the  body  was  embalmed,  and 
the  soldiers  carried  it  back  to  Stockholm.  There 
it  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  church  of  Riddarholm 
which  contains  the  royal  tombs,  and  where  many 
others  of  the  greatest  and  best  men  of  Sweden 
are  buried. 


CARDINAL  RICHELIEU 

1585-1642 

While  Wallenstein  on  the  one  side,  and  Gusta- 
vus  Adolphus  on  the  other,  were  fighting  the 
battles  of  the  ''Thirty  Years'  War"  in  Germany, 
a  similar  reUgious 
war  was  going  on  in 
France.  Louis  XIII 
and  his  famous 
prime  minister, 
Richelieu,  were 
fighting  with  the 
Huguenots,  or  Prot- 
estants of  France. 

Louis  sat  on  the 
throne,  but  the  real 
ruler  of  France  was 
Cardinal  Richelieu. 
The  full  name  of 
the  Cardinal  was 
Armand  de  Rich- 
elieu; Richelieu  being  the  name  of  his  father's 
estate,  upon  which,  in  1585,  Armand  was  born. 

When  he  was  twenty-two  he  entered  the  min- 


RICHELIEU 


156  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

istry  and  soon  became  a  bishop.  His  people 
were  mostly  poor;  and  Richelieu  felt  that  there 
was  a  grander  career  before  him  than  to  remain 
their  bishop. 

He  determined  to  make  something  of  himself, 
and  to  be  the  equal  of  any  nobleman  in  the 
kingdom.  There  was  only  one  way  in  which 
he  could  do  this.  That  was  by  becoming  a 
politician.  His  ambition  was  to  become  a  leader 
of  men. 

In  Richeheu's  time,  there  was  an  assembly 
in  France  called  the  states-general.  It  was  com- 
posed of  delegates  who  represented  the  nobles, 
the  clergy,  and  the  commons — the  three  great 
classes  into  which  the  nation  was  divided. 

But  the  states-general  had  no  real  power.  It 
did  not,  like  our  congress,  make  laws.  It  could 
only  petition  the  king.  The  delegates  presented 
addresses  to  His  Majesty,  telling  him  of  any 
trouble  in  the  kingdom  and  begging  him  to 
remedy  it. 

Richeheu,  being  a  bishop,  was  a  member  of 
the  states-general,  and  although  he  was  one  of 
the  youngest — perhaps  the  very  youngest  of  the 
bishops — he  got  himself  chosen  as  the  orator 
who  should  deliver  the  address  of  the  clergy. 

This  gave  him  a  good  opportunity  to  win  the 


RICHELIEU 


157 


favor  of  Louis  XIII's  mother,  the  famous  Marie 
de  Medici,  who  was  acting  as  regent  of  the  king- 
dom until  Louis  should  come  of  age.  The 
young  orator  could  not  say  enough  in  her  praise, 
and  she  naturally  took  a  liking  to  him. 

About  a  year  after  his  oration  at  the  meeting 


I.Di   l.>    .VIU     A.NJJ    KICHELIEU 


of  the  states-general,  Richelieu  was  invited  by 
the  queen  mother  to  become  a  member  of  the 
council  of  state.  He  remained  in  the  council, 
however,  only  a  short  time;  for  a  quarrel  arose 
between  the  king  and  his  mother,  and  Richelieu 
retired  from  office. 

Soon,  however,  the  death  of  Luynes    (lu'een), 


158  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

a  favorite  minister  of  Louis,  gave  him  the  op- 
portunity to  return  to  Paris.  He  again  took  a 
position  under  the  king,  and  became  the  most 
vahiable  officer  that  Louis  ever  had. 

When  Henry  of  Navarre  granted  to  the  Hugue- 
nots the  celebrated  Edict  of  Nantes,  the  French 
people  generally  hoped  that  the  religious  trou- 
bles in  France  were  forever  ended.  But,  un- 
fortunately, this  was  not  the  case.  In  1621, 
some  of  the  Huguenots  held  a  great  meeting  at 
La  Rochelle,  which  was  their  richest  city,  and 
there  made  a  kind  of  declaration  of  independ- 
ence. 

The  king  of  France  had  several  fortresses  in 
that  part  of  the  country.  One  of  these,  called 
"St.  Louis,"  commanded  La  Rochelle. 

King  Louis  considered  that  he  had  a  right  to  main- 
tain fortresses  anywhere  in  France,  but  the 
Huguenots  insisted  that  the  fortress  of  St.  Louis 
should  be  demoUshed.  The  king,  instead  of  pull- 
ing it  down,  made  it  stronger. 

The  Huguenots  then  did  a  very  unwise  thing. 
In  1622  they  rose  in  a  general  revolt,  and  made 
an  attack  on  some  of  the  king's  war  vessels 
and  captured  them.  Richelieu,  however,  man- 
aged to  put  down  the  revolt. 

Two  years   later  the  English    made  war  upon 


160  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

France  and  again  the  Huguenots  revolted.  Riche- 
lieu then  decided  that  their  power  must  be  de- 
stroyed. 

So  with  an  army  of  twenty-five  thousand  men 
he  marched  to  La  Rochelle  and  besieged  it.  The 
city  was  well  protected.  On  the  land  side  were 
vast  swamps  through  which  an  army  could 
neither  march  nor  drag  siege  guns.  An  attack 
might  have  been  made  by  sea,  but  at  that  time 
the  king  had  no  navy. 

To  prevent  food  being  taken  into  the  city 
across  the  marshes  was  easy;  but  the  only  way 
to  prevent  its  going  in  by  ships  was  to  close  the 
harbor.  To  do  this,  a  great  stone  dike,  a  mile 
long,  was  built  across  the  channel  that  led  to  the 
city. 

Richeheu  paid  his  men  twice  ordinary  wages, 
and  in  that  way,  although  it  was  winter,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  work  done.  The  harbor  was 
thus  practically  closed.  Food  soon  became  scarce, 
and  great  suffering  prevailed  in  La  Rochelle. 

But  no  one  thought  of  surrender.  The  women 
were  just  as  determined  to  hold  out  as  were  the 
men.  Months  passed,  and  still  the  siege  went 
on.  The  starving  citizens  hoped  every  day  to 
see  an  English  fleet  come  to  their  aid;  and  an 
English  fleet  did  come. 


RICHELIEU  161 

When  the  English  commander  learned  of  the 
great  dike  that  RicheUeu  had  built,  he  was  afraid 
to  approach  it  lest  his  ships  should  be  wrecked. 
He  therefore  sailed  away  without  firing  a  gun. 

At  the  close  of  the  summer  the  besieged  were 
obliged  to  eat  horses,  dogs,  and  cats.  It  is  said, 
that  they  boiled  the  skins  of  these  animals,  and 
even  boiled  old  leather  trying  to  make  it  fit  for 
food. 

In  September  a  second  English  fleet  attempted 
to  enter  the  harbor;  but  by  this  time  RicheHeu 
had  equipped  a  number  of  large  war  vessels, 
and  the  Enghsh  met  with  determined  resistance. 
A  storm  damaged  many  of  their  vessels,  and  the 
battered  fleet  was  forced  to  sail  back  to  England. 
By  this  time  one  half  of  the  population  had  died; 
and,  of  those  left,  few  were  strong  enough  to  do 
mihtary  duty. 

At  length  after  a  siege  of  fifteen  months.  La 
Rochelle  surrendered,  and  the  king  made  a 
triumphal  entry  into  the  city.  The  fortifications 
were  destroyed,  and  the  power  of  the  Huguenot 
nol)les  was  forever  at  an  end. 

Richelieu  compelled  the  nobles  to  admit  that 
Louis  was  master  of  France.  Many  of  them, 
however,  were  extremely  angry  at  the  loss  of 
their    ])ower,    and    conspiracies    against    the    life 

HAAHKN'-M  T       1  I 


162  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

of  Richelieu  were  more  than  once  formed;  but 
lie  always  managed  to  find  out  about  them  and 
to  punish  those  engaged  in  them.  Many  of  the 
conspirators  were  executed;  and  thus  Richelieu's 
power  was  actually  increased  instead  of  de- 
stroyed. 

It  should  be  said  that  though  Richelieu  de- 
stroyed the  fortresses  of  the  Huguenots,  he  was 
not  unfair  to  them  about  their  rehgion.  They 
were  allowed  to  worship  God  according  to  their 
own  consciences;  for  he  was  wise  enough  to 
know  that  people  cannot  be  forced  to  worship  in 
ways  they  do  not  like. 

While  Richeheu  wished  the  king  of  France 
to  be  strong,  he  wished  his  neighbor,  the  em- 
peror of  Germany,  to  be  weak,  ^o  in  the  same 
year  in  which  he  had  broken  down  the  power 
of  the  Protestant  nobles,  he  actually  gave  help 
to  the  Protestant  princes  of  Germany,  who  were 
fighting  against  the  emperor  just  as  the  Hugue- 
nots had  fought  against  King  Louis. 

He  not  only  persuaded  the  great  Gustavus 
Adolphus  to  lead  his  army  of  Swedes  against 
the  emperor,  but  he  paid  large  sums  of  money 
to  him  for  the  support  of  his  troops.  Thus  the 
great  victories  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  which 
were    so    valuable    to    the    German    Protestants, 


RICHELIEU  163 

were  won  in  part  by  soldiers  paid  and  fed  by 
Richelieu  and  the  king  of  France. 

Richelieu  saw  that  if  the  emperor  of  Germany 
should  overcome  the  Protestant  princes  and 
make  himself  head  of  the  whole  country,  and 
as  absolute  as  Richelieu  had  made  Louis,  Ger- 
many would  be  a  more  powerful  country  than 
France.  Then  Germany  might  take  to  herself 
some  of  the  territory  of  France.  Richelieu  fought 
the  Protestants  in  France  to  make  France  united 
and  strong;  he  paid  and  fed  the  Protestant 
armies  in  Germany  to  keep  Germany  divided 
and  weak. 

While  Richelieu  was  prime  minister  of  France, 
the  English  and  Dutch  were  planting  colonies 
in  America;  and  commerce  in  the  fish  and  furs 
which  were  brought  from  the  New  World  was 
becoming  very  active  and  profitable. 

Richelieu  desired  France  to  be  the  equal  of 
England  as  a  colonizing  and  commercial  nation. 
He  therefore  gave  a  charter  to  the  Company  of 
''New  France,"  as  Canada  was  often  called.  He 
granted  to  the  Company  the  sole  right  to  collect 
furs  in  America,  and  the  sole  right  to  sell  them  in 
France.  In  return,  the  Company  was  required 
within  fifteen  years  to  land  at  least  four  thousand 
colonists    in    Canada. 


164  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

To  protect  trading  vessels  from  pirates  who  then 
infested  the  seas,  to  defend  the  coast  of  France, 
and  to  protect  her  colonies,  Richeheu  saw  that 
a  navy  was  required.  He  created  the  navy  of 
France.  When  Louis  XIII  came  to  the  throne 
the  country  had  not  a  single  war  ship.  When 
he  died,  the  French  navy  consisted  of  twenty 
men-of-war  and  eighty  smaller  vessels. 

Long  before  Richeheu  died  he  had  accomplished 
the  object  of  his  life.  He  had  made  the  king 
of  France  an  absolute  monarch,  and  himself 
as  absolute  as  the  king. 

Wallenstein  had  desired  to  accomplish  the  same 
thing  in  Germany,  but  he  had  miserably  failed. 
Charles  I  was  trying  to  make  his  power  absolute 
in  England,  but  the  English  people  rebelled 
against   him. 

Many  years  after  the  death  of  Richelieu,  the 
Czar,  Peter  the  Great,  visited  Paris.  As  he 
stood  before  the  splendid  marble  monument  of 
Richelieu,  he  exclaimed,  ''Thou  great  man!  I 
would  have  given  thee  one  half  of  my  dominions 
to  learn  from  thee  how  to  govern  the  other  half." 


GALILEO 

1564-1642 

Sometime  in  the  year  1583,  repairs  were  going 
on  in  the  cathedral  of  an  old  Italian  city  called 
Pisa;  and,  accidently,  a  workman  had  set  swing- 
ing a  great  lamp  which  was  suspended  from  the 
high  roof  of  the  building.  People  came  into  the 
church  and  knelt  for  a  few  minutes  to  say  their 
prayers  and  then  went  out  without  noticing 
that  the  lamp  kept  on  smnging  to  and  fro. 

A  young  man  about  eighteen  years  of  age  came 
into  the  church.  He  noticed  the  smnging  lamp; 
and  he  also  thought  that  it  took  just  the  same 
time  to  make  each  of  its  swings. 

With  his  right  hand  he  clasped  his  left  wrist. 
He  knew  that  the  times  between  pulse  beats  are 
practically  equal.  So,  feeUng  his  pulse  and 
watching  the  swinging  lamp,  he  was  trying  to 
measure  the  one  by  the  other. 

The  young  man  who  watched  the  swinging 
lamp  was  Galileo;  and  he  found  that  its  motions 
were  equal  in  duration. 

Before  his  time  no  pendulum  had  ever  swung 


166  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

in  a  clock.  No  clock  with  a  pendulum  had  been 
thought  of.  But  after  Galileo  published  his 
great  discovery  that  pendulums  made  their  swings 
in  equal  periods  of  time,  a  man  named  Huygens 
(Hi'  genz)  made  a  pendulum  clock. 

It  was  found  that  pendulums  about  a  yard 
long  make  each  swing  in  a  second;  and  so,  at 
first,  clocks  were  made  with  pendulums  which 
beat  seconds. 

From  Galileo's  watching  the  swinging  lamp, 
all  our  clocks  may  fairly  be  said  to  have  been 
invented. 

The  father  of  Galileo  hoped  that  his  son  would 
become  a  physician;  but  the  young  man  liked 
to  study  mathematics,  and  his  father  permitted 
him  to  follow  the  bent  of  his  genius. 

Not  long  after  graduating  at  the  university, 
and  when  not  quite  twenty-five,  Galileo  was 
made  professor  of  physics.  He  taught  his  classes 
about  pumps  and  machinery,  why  smoke  rises 
in  the  air,  why  birds'  wings  enable  them  to  fly, 
and  why  fishes'  fins  send  them  through  the 
water. 

Nobody  in  Europe  at  that  time  knew  much 
about  such  matters.  There  were  no  steam  engines ; 
no  railroad  trains  were  in  existence;  no  steam- 
ers were  crossing  the  seas. 


GALILEO  167 

People  knew  very  little  about  such  simple 
things  as  the  falling  of  stones  and  feathers,  and 
pieces  of  iron  and  lead.  Even  learned  men 
thought  that  two  pounds  of  lead  would  fall  twice 
as  fast  as  one  pound,  one  hundred  pounds  one 
hundred  times  as  fast,   and  so  on. 

One  day  GaUleo  asked  some  of  his  friends  to 
climb  with  him  the  leaning  tower  of  Pisa.  This 
tower  is  one  of  the  famous  buildings  of  Europe. 
The  odd  thing  about  it  is  that  it  does  not  stand 
up  straight  like  the  tower  or  spire  of  a  church, 
but  leans  over,  as  some  of  our  trees  do. 

Some  of  Galileo's  friends  stayed  at  the  foot 
of  the  tower;  some  went  to  the  top.  Heavy 
and  light  things  were  carried  up  and  dropped 
from  the  summit  of  the  tower;  and  one  pound 
of  iron  reached  the  ground  at  the  same  instant 
as  did  a  piece  that  weighed  ten  pounds. 

While  Galileo  was  professor  at  Pisa  the  people 
of  Europe  who  watched  the  heavens  saw  a  new 
star  in  the  sky. 

''Have  you  seen  the  new  star?  What  do  you 
think  it  is?"  were  ({uestions  that  everybody  was 
asking.  Some  thought  it  was  only  a  meteor; 
but  GaHleo  said,  "No!  It  must  be  a  star,  be- 
cause a  meteor  would  surely  be  moving,  and 
that  star  seems  still."     He  gave   three   lectures 


•168 


FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 


upon  it  and  people  went    by  hundreds    to  hear 
him. 

Galileo,  like  everybody  else,  could  look  at  the 
star  only  with  the  naked  eye.  He  tried  to  con- 
trive  something   that   would   show   both   it   and 


de  Lemud 


the  other  stars  more  plainly.  He  had  seen 
spectacles.  His  grandfather  wore  a  pair.  He 
had  somewhere  read  that  if  two  eyeglasses 
are  placed  one  above  the  other,  things  seen 
through    them    will    appear    nearer   and    larger. 


GALILEO  169 

Some  bright  man  in  Holland  fixed  an  eyeglass 
at  one  end  of  a  tube  and  another  like  it  at  the 
other  end;  and  so  made  the  first  telescope. 

Galileo  had  heard  about  this.  He  bought  a 
piece  of  lead -pipe  and  fixed  a  glass  at  either  end. 
His  telescope  magnified  only  three  times;  but 
it  made  things  look  nearer  and  larger. 

He  was  as  pleased  with  it  as  a  child  with  a 
new  toy.  Wealthy  and  noble  Venetians  looked 
through  it  ^vi.th.  wonder;  just  as  when  you  look 
through  a  microscope  at  the  point  of  a  needle 
you  are  surprised  to  see  how  blunt  it  is. 

Then  GaUleo  used  stronger  lenses.  His  second 
telescope  magnified  eight  times;  and  a  third  was 
made   which   magnified    thirty   times. 

He  looked  at  the  moon;  and  he  saw  what  no 
human  being  had  ever  seen  before.  There  are 
mountains  on  the  moon.  He  saw  their  bright 
tops  and  the  shadows  which  they  threw. 

Then  he  looked  at  the  planet  Venus.  She  no 
longer  looked  Uke  the  other  stars;  but  some- 
times she  seemed  to  be  round  hke  the  full 
moon,  sometimes  horned,  like  the  old  and  new 
moons. 

With  his  naked  eye  Galileo  counted  only  six 
stars  in  the  Pleiades.  People  long  years  before 
had  seen  seven;    and  it  was  l)elieved  that  one 


GALILEO        ^  171 

had  been  lost.  Galileo  looked  one  bright  night 
and  his  telescope  showed  him  forty.  He  looked 
at  the  Milky  Way  and  found  that  its  whiteness 
is  the  dim  light  of  millions  of  stars  so  far  away 
that  they  seem  as  small  as  the  finest  dust. 

He  then  made  a  fourth  and  larger  telescope,  and 
turned  it  upon  the  farthest  away  of  the  known 
planets.  Jupiter,  like  Venus,  seemed  no  more 
a  star.     It  was  round  like  the  moon  at  the  full. 

But  another  and  greater  wonder  appeared.  Close 
to  the  edge  of  Jupiter's  disk  were  three  tiny  stars. 
Two  were  seen  on  the  east  side  of  the  planet 
and  one  on  the  west.     They  were  Jupiter's  moons. 

Galileo  watched  on  another  night  and  found 
that  instead  of  three  there  were  four.  We  now 
know   that   there   are   seven. 

He  told  the  other  professors  in  the  university 
what  he  had  seen,  and  the  news  quickly  spread. 
The  newly-found  m.oons  were  called  planets, 
just  as  our  own  moon  was;  and  so  it  seemed 
that  Galileo  had  made  the  number  of  planets 
eleven,    instead    of    seven. 

One  of  the  professors  was  so  angry  that  he  would 
not  even  look  through  the  telescope.  Another  man 
said, "  The  head  has  only  seven  openings — two  eyes, 
two  ears,  two  nostrils  and  one  mouth,  and  how 
can  there  be  more   than  seven  planets?" 


172  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Galileo  had  an  old  friend  called  Kepler,  who 
was  the  greatest  astronomer  then  living.  GaH- 
leo  wrote  to  him,  ^'Oh,  my  dear  Kepler,  how  I 
wish  we  could  have  one  good  laugh  together. 
Why  are  you  not  here?  What  shouts  of  laughter 
we  should  have  at  their  glorious  folly!" 

About  sixty  years  before  this,  Copernicus  had 
printed  a  book  in  which  he  said  that  the  earth 
was  not  still,  as  people  thought,  but  that  it  was 
all  the  time  moving  round  the  sun. 

GaHleo  did  not  at  first  believe  this,  and  said 
in  one  of  his  letters  that  it  was  ''folly."  Then 
he  saw  that  it  was  probably  true;  and  when  he 
looked  through  his  telescope  at  the  planets  he 
became   certain   of  it. 

When  people  said  that  the  system  of  Copernicus 
was  contrary  to  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures, 
Galileo  tried  to  explain  the  sense  in  which  the 
passages  in  the  Bible  are  to  be  taken.  He  was 
then  accused  of  teaching  what  would  do  harm  to 
religion,  and  was  summoned  to  Rome.  His  trial 
took  place  in  1616  and  he  promised  to  give  up  his 
opinions  concerning  the  Copernican  system. 

But  his  enemies  still  pursued  him,  and  in  1633 
Galileo  was  again  accused  of  heresy  and  of  break- 
ing the  promise  he  had  made  in  1616.  The  main 
part  of  the  charge  was  that  Galileo  had  denied 


174  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

that  God  is  a  personal  being  and  that  miracles  are 
not  miracles  at  all.  As  to  breaking  the  promise  he 
had  made  in  1616,  Galileo  admitted  that  he  had 
felt  proud  of  his  arguments  in  favor  of  the  Coper- 
nican  system  and  in  one  of  his  books  he  had  made 
out  rather  a  strong  case  for  it.  He  denied,  how- 
ever, having  expressly  taught  the  Copernican  sys- 
tem. Unfortunately  Galileo  did  not  tell  the 
truth  in  thus  denying  what  he  had  taught,  and  he 
was  sentenced  to  an  indefinite  term  of  imprison- 
ment. 

The  imprisonment  was  not  severe,  although 
Galileo  complained  of  it.  He  was  to  remain  with 
an  old  friend  and  disciple;  but  at  the  end  of  six 
months  he  was  permitted  to  return  to  his  home 
near   Florence. 

His  friends  were  allowed  to  visit  him;  but 
he  was  not  allowed  to  go  outside  the  gate  to 
visit  them.  This  was  sad  for  him;  but  sadder 
still  was  the  loss  of  his  sight;  for  his  eyes  had 
seen  more  of  the  glory  of  the  heavens  than  all 
the  millions  of  eyes  that  had  ever  looked  at  the 
stars  since  the  world  began. 

He  died  in  1642  and  his  body  was  interred 
in  the  Cathedral   of  Santa  Croce. 


OLIVER  CROMWELL 
1599—1658 

Oliver  Cromwell  was  born  in  Huntingdon. 
England,  four  years  before  the  death  of  Queen 
Elizabeth   and   the   accession   of  King  James   L 

His  father  was  a  gentleman  farmer  and  culti- 
vated his  own  land.  But  he  was  in  comfort- 
able circumstances  and  able  to  take  excellent 
care    of   his    family. 

Oliver  is  described  as  being  of  a  wayward  and 
violent  temper  as  a  lad.  He  was  cross  and 
masterful;  l)ut  possessed  a  large  quantity  of 
mirthful  energy  which  showed  itself  in  various 
forms  of  mischief. 

It  is  said  that  when  only  a  boy  he  dreamed 
that  he  would  become  the  greatest  man  in  Eng- 
land. A  story  is  also  told  that  once,  at  school, 
he  took  the  part  of  king  in  a  play,  and  placed 
the  crown  upon  his  head  himself  instead  of  let- 
ting some  one  else  crown  him. 

At  college  he  excelled  in  Latin  and  history, 
especially  in  the  study  of  the  lives  of  the  famous 
men  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

He    was,    however,    more    famed    for   his   skill 


176 


FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 


at  football  and  other  rough  games  than  for  the 
study  of  books. 

His  schooling  was  given  him  by  Dr.  Thomas 
Beard,  a    Puritan    minister   who   resided   in   his 


CROMWELL 


native   town;    and    who   seems  to   have  taken  a 
great  interest  in  hini  as  a  boy. 

It  was  from  his  mother,  who  is  described  as 
''a  woman  of  rare  vigor  and  great  decision  of 


OLIVER   CROMWELL  177 

purpose,"  that  Cromwell  derived  his  remarkable 
strength  of  character. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  left  college,  on  ac- 
count of  the  death  of  his  father,  and  returned 
home  to  look  after  the  affairs  of  the  family. 

At  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  was  married  to 
EUzabeth  Bourchier,  daughter  of  a  London  mer- 
chant, who  proved  to  be  a  most  excellent  wife. 

The  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  in  Hunting- 
don is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  the  Great  Parlia- 
ment, which  drew  up  "The  Petition  of  Rights,"  he 
sat  as  a  member  and  represented  his  nati^'e  place. 

He  made  his  first  speech  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, where  so  much  of  his  future  work  was  to 
be  done,  on  February  11.  1629.  He  was  then 
thirty  years  of  age. 

A  gentleman  who  heard  this  first  speech  has 
thus  described  it:  "I  came  into  the  House  of 
Commons  one  morning  and  listened  to  a  gentle- 
man speaking  whom  I  knew  not.  His  dress 
was  a  plain  cloth  suit  which  showed  the  cut  of  a 
country  tailor;  his  Hnen  was  not  very  clean;  his 
hat  was  without  a  hatband;  his  voice  was  sharp, 
and  his  eloquence  full  of  fervor.  He  was  speak- 
ing in  behalf  of  a  servant  who  had  been  im- 
prisoned for  speaking  against  the  queen  because 
she  indulged   in   dancing." 

HAAHKN-MT.-12 


178  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

After  King  Charles  dismissed  that  ParHament, 
he  decided  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  nation 
without  one;  and  so  for  eleven  years  no  other 
Parliament  was  called. 

During  this  long  interval  Cromwell  remained 
at  home  and  worked  upon  his  land. 

Want  of  money  at  last  forced  King  Charles 
to  call  a  Parliament;  and  it  assembled  in  1640. 

In  this  Parliament  Cromwell  sat  as  the  member 
for  Cambridge,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the 
business  of  the  House. 

Trouble  soon  arose  between  the  king  and  the 
Parliament  on  the  question  as  to  who  possessed 
the  right  to  levy  taxes.  Both  parties  claimed 
this  right  and  neither  would  yield. 

Then  Parliament  passed  what  was  called  ''The 
Great  Remonstrance,"  which  was  a  complaint 
from  the  people  of  the  wrongs  they  suffered 
under  the  rule  of  Charles. 

On  leaving  the  house  that  day,  Cromwell  said 
to  a  friend  with  whom  he  was  walking,  ''If  the 
Remonstrance  had  been  rejected  I  would  have 
left  England  never  to  have  set  my  foot  upon  her 
shores  again." 

The  king  was  so  angry  that  he  ordered  the 
arrest  of  the  five  members  who  had  taken  the 
lead  in  the  passing  of  the  Remonstrance;    but 


OLIVER  CROMWELL  179 

the  House  of  Commons  would  not  allow  the 
arrests  to  be  made. 

The  next  day  King  Charles  brought  four  hun- 
dred soldiers  with  him,  and  demanded  that  the 
men  be  given  up;  but  the  members  would  not 
yield,  and  the  king  had  to  go  awa}^  without  them. 

It  at  once  became  evident  that  there  would 
be  war  between  the  Parliament  and  the  king, 
and  the  whole  land  was  filled  with  excitement 
and  alarm. 

How  Cromwell  felt  about  this  matter  can  be 
seen  from  a  few  words  in  a  letter  WTitten  at  this 
time.  He  said,  ''The  king's  heart  has  been 
hardened.  He  will  not  listen  to  reason.  The 
sword  must  be  dra\vn.  I  feel  myself  urged  to 
carry  forw^ard  this  work." 

The  \vhole  nation  quickly  became  divided 
into  two  parties.  The  friends  of  the  king  were 
called  "RoyaUsts,"  or  ''Cavaliers."  Those  of 
Parliament  were  called  "Roundheads."  Crom- 
well's own  uncle  and  cousin  were  staunch  friends 
of  King  Charles,  and  at  once  entered  his  army. 

Cromwell  raised  two  companies  of  volunteers. 
He  distinguished  himself  Ijy  his  strict  discipUne, 
although  up  to  the  time  when  the  war  broke 
out  he  had  not  had  much  experience  in  military 
affairs. 


180  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

He  was  then  forty-three  years  old.  He  soon 
"became  known  as  a  great  leader  and  soldier;  and 
his  successes  as  a  soldier  gave  him  a  high  place 
in  the  affairs  of  the  nation. 

The  adherents  of  Parliament  had  on  their 
side  the  navy;  and  they  also  had  more  money 
than  King  Charles  had.  But  Charles  had  a  fine 
body  of  cavalry;  and  many  of  the  rich  men  of 
England  sent  him  money  to  carry  on  the  war. 

At  the  opening  of  the  war  the  army  of  Charles 
had  the  advantage.  Cromwell  saw  that  the 
forces  of  the  Parliament  would  soon  be  beaten 
unless  they  could  get  soldiers  who  were  interested 
in  the  cause  for  which  they  were  fighting;  and 
such  men  he  at  once  began  to  gather  about  him. 

A  large  number  of  soldiers  who  fought  under 
Cromwell  were  Puritans.  The  Puritans  were 
people  who  objected  to  many  of  the  forms  and 
ceremonies   of   the   Church   of  England. 

Many  of  them  laid  great  stress  on  the  importance 
of  sober  and  righteous  living.  When  in  camp, 
they  read  the  Bible  and  sang  psalms.  They 
often  recited  Bible  verses  and  sang  psalms  as 
they  went  into  battle. 

The  first  battle  of  the  war  was  fought  at  Edge 
Hill.  The  greatest  loss  in  any  single  engage- 
ment was  at  the  battle  of  Marston  Moor,  where 


OLIVER  CROMWELL  181 

the  king's  army  left  forty  thousand  slain  upon 
the  field. 

In  this  battle  the  soldiers  under  the  command 
of  Cromwell  really  won  the  victory.  From  that 
time  he  rose  rapidly  until  he  became  commander- 
in-chief.  He  is  said  to  have  been  victorious 
in  every  battle  he  fought. 

01i\'er  recei^^ed  while  in  the  army  the  name 
of  "Ironsides;"  and  a  Uttle  later  this  same  title 
was  given  to  his  men,  because  the  RoyaHst 
troops  had  found  it  impossible  to  break  Crom- 
well's lines. 

But  it  must  not  be  thought  that  Cromwell 
was  a  man  devoid  of  tender  feeUng.  Shortly 
before  the  battle  of  Marston  Moor  his  eldest  son 
was  killed.  Cromwell  felt  his  loss  most  keenly, 
and  was  heard  to  say,  "It  went  to  my  heart  Uke 
a  dagger.     Indeed  it  did." 

Over  sixty  other  battles  were  fought;  and 
finally  the  cause  of  the  king  was  wi'ecked  at 
the  great  battle  of  Naseby,  in  1645. 

But  instead  of  admitting  that  he  was  beaten, 
and  agreeing  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  people, 
Charles  fled  to  Scotland  and  tried  to  induce  the 
Scots  to  give  him  aid. 

This  turned  Cromwell  against  the  king,  and 
convinced   liim   that   only   through   (he   death   of 


(182) 


OLIVER  CROMWELL  183 

Charles  was  it  possible  to  secure  the  liberties  of 
the  English  people. 

In  June,  1647,  the  king  was  seized  by  one  of 
Cromwell's  soldiers  and  placed  in  custody  of  the 
army.  The  Commons  resented  this  action  and 
resolved  to  make  terms  with  the  king.  Where- 
upon the  army  leaders  sent  Colonel  Pride  with 
a  body  of  soldiers  to  "purge"  the  Commons  of 
members  who  favored  making  terms  with  the 
king. 

The  remaining  members  soon  afterwards  passed 
a  resolution  that  the  king  should  be  brought 
to  justice,  and  voted  to  form  a  special  High 
Court  of  Justice.  The  king  protested  that  the 
court  was  illegal  and  refused  to  make  any  plea. 
He  was  condemned  by  the  court  and  was  be- 
headed on  January  30,  1649. 

In  1653  Cromwell  decided  to  dissolve  Parlia- 
ment. A  body  of  soldiers  drove  the  members 
out  and  Cromwell  himself  took  possession  of  the 
speaker 's    mace. 

Oliver  Cromwell  was  now  the  most  powerful 
man  in  England;  and  the  army,  over  which  he 
still  presided,  offered  to  make  him  king. 

One  of  his  daughters  pleaded  so  earnestly 
with  him  that  he  refused  to  accept  the  crown 
or  to  lake  the  title  of  king. 


184  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

England  was  declared  to  be  no  longer  a  mon- 
archy but  a  Commonwealth;  and  under  this 
new  form  of  government  Oliver  Cromwell  was 
made  ruler,  with  the  title  of  Protector. 

In  the  summer  of  1658  he  was  taken  ill  with 
chills  and  fever;  and  on  September  3rd  of  that 
year  he  died. 

Oliver  Cromwell  had  grave  faults;   and  he  was 
by   no   means  an  easy  man   to  deal   with.     He 
made  many  blunders,  some  of  which  were  serious 
ones.     But  he  proved  himself  equal  to  the  task 
he  had  undertaken. 


LOUIS  XIV 

1638—1715 

After  the  death  of  RicheUeu,  in  1642,  Louis 
XIII,  king  of  France,  followed  the  advice  of 
his  great  prime  minister  and  called  Cardinal 
Mazarin  to  fill  his  place. 

But  Louis  XIII  Hved  only  six  months  after 
Richelieu  passed  away.  He  died  in  1643,  and 
his  son  Louis  XIV  succeeded  him  as  king. 

Louis  XIV  had  the  longest  and  most  brilliant 
reign  in  the  history  of  France;  and  the  French 
people  have  always  called  him  ''The  Grand 
Monarch." 

He  was  born  in  1638,  and  became  king  when 
he  was  but  five  years  old.  His  mother  governed 
the  kingdom,  as  regent,  until  he  was  thirteen; 
Ijut  Mazarin  was  retained  in  office,  and  quickly 
Ijecame  the  real  ruler  of  France. 

Mazarin  was  a  great  statesman,  but  he  was 
determined  to  have  his  own  way.  Many  of  the 
things  he  did  cost  a  great  deal  of  money;  and 
so  he  made  the  people  of  France  pay  very  heavy 
taxes,  and  this  caused  them  to  dislike  him  ex- 
ceedingly. 


186  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Finally  they  became  so  discontented  that  they 
began  a  revolt  known  as  the  War  of  the  Fronde, 
which  means  the  War  of  the  Sling.  The  name 
was  given  to  ridicule  the  revolting  party  who 
were  chiefly  peasants;  and  who  were  too  poor 
to  buy  proper  arms.  They  were  compared  to 
the  disorderly  boys  of  Paris  who  sometimes 
fought  with  slings,  and  the  name  arose  in  that 
way. 

This  war  lasted  four  years,  and  at  its  close 
Mazarin  was  dismissed.  But  he  was  soon  put 
into  office  again,  and  had  even  more  power  than 
before. 

As  a  boy  Louis  XIV  was  more  fond  of  mihtary 
exercises  than  of  study.  He  took  great  delight 
in  handling  swords  and  beating  drums.  The 
boys  belonging  to  some  of  the  noble  families  of 
France  were  the  playmates  of  the  young  king; 
and  he  formed  them  into  a  company  of  soldiers, 
and  spent  some  time  every  day  in  drilling  them. 

In  1651,  when  he  reached  the  age  of  thirteen, 
he  took  the  government  into  his  own  hands,  but 
Mazarin   remained    prime    minister. 

One  of  the  first  things  Louis  did,  after  de- 
claring himself  king,  was  to  go  with  General 
Turenne  into  the  South  of  France  upon  a  military 
expedition.     He    was    greatly    pleased    with    life 


(.167) 


188  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

in  the  army  and  came  back  to  Paris  enthusiastic 
about  military  tactics. 

''General  Turenne,"  said  the  young  king,  ''when 
I  make  war  you  must  lead  my  troops." 

"I  deeply  thank  you,  Sire,  for  your  good 
opinion  of  me,"  replied  the  famous  general. 
"I  should  be  glad  indeed  to  have  command  of 
Your  Majesty's  army  in  any  war  in  which  you 
may  be  engaged." 

"Well,  general,"  said  Louis,  "I  feel  sure  that  I 
shall  have  lots  of  wars;  and  you  must  be  ready 
to  help  me." 

Years  afterwards  Louis's  words  came  true.  He 
carried  on  many  wars;  and  in  some  of  them 
Turenne  won  fame  as  one  of  the  greatest  com- 
manders of  his  time. 

Louis  saw  that  Mazarin  was  managing  the 
affairs  of  the  nation  with  great  skill;  so  he  al- 
lowed him  to  do  as  he  thought  best,  while  His 
Majesty  devoted  himself  to  a  Hfe  of  pleasure. 

But  in  1661,  when  Louis  was  twenty- three, 
Mazarin  died.  The  day  after  Mazarin's  death 
the  officers  of  the  government  assembled  at  the 
palace,  all  eager  to  know  which  of  them  was  to 
be   the   new  prime   minister. 

"To  whom  shall  we  speak  in  the  future  about 
the  business  of  the  kingdom?"  asked  one  of  them. 


LOUIS  XIV  189 

''To  me,"  answered  the  king.  ''Hereafter  I 
shall  be  my  own  prime  minister." 

After  thus  taking  matters  into  his  own  hands 
he  reigned  for  more  than  fifty  years.  He  placed 
in  control  of  the  different  departments  of  the 
government  the  best  men  he  could  find;  and 
one  of  his  officers,  the  famous  Colbert,  managed 
the  money  matters  of  the  kingdom  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  make  his  name  illustrious  for  all 
time.  He  made  the  taxes  less  burdensome  to 
the  people;  and,  at  the  same  time,  he  so  fos- 
tered the  industries  of  the  kingdom  that  the 
revenue  was  greatly  increased. 

Louis  improved  the  condition  of  the  French 
people.  He  encouraged  manufacturers.  He  even 
established  some  factories  at  the  expense  of  the 
government;  so  that,  during  his  reign,  France  be- 
came famous  for  her  woolens  and  carpets,  her 
silks  and  tapestries. 

Louis  also  founded  schools  and  colleges.  He 
improved  the  country  roads.  He  began  the 
great  canal  which  connects  the  Mediterranean 
with  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  He  did  all  in  his  power 
to  advance  the  welfare  of  the  kingdom. 

At  Versailles,  a  few  miles  from  Paris,  he  built 
t  he  largest  and  most  magnificent  palace  in  France. 
He  adorned  it  with  paintings  and   statues  and 


190  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

surrounded  it  with  lovely  gardens.  There  he 
lived  in  great  splendor,  and  gathered  about  him 
a  large  company  of  talented  men  and  beautiful 
women. 

The  Louvre,  the  Trianon,  the  Tuileries,  and 
some  other  of  the  most  beautiful  buildings  for 
which  Paris  is  still  noted  were  also  built  during 
his  reign. 

In  1685,  Louis  revoked  the  famous  Edict  of 
Nantes,  under  which  Henry  of  Navarre  had  granted 
religious  liberty  to  the  French  people. 

In  consequence  over  three  hundred  thousand 
Protestants  left  France.  They  carried  with  them 
their  tools  and  their  trades  and  moved  into 
other  countries.  More  than  forty  thousand  of 
them  settled  in  England,  where  they  were  re- 
ceived with  open  arms. 

In  his  later  life  Louis  had  the  same  fondness 
for  war  as  in  his  youth;  and  during  nearly  fifteen 
years  he  was  engaged  in  wars  with  various  Euro- 
pean nations. 

His  army  was  large  and  thoroughly  disci- 
plined. He  had  also  a  navy  which  made  France 
powerful  on  the  ocean.  He  used  to  say  with 
great  pride,  ''I  can  fight  the  world  equally  well 
on  the  sea  or  on  the  land." 

Wars  were  fought  with  Spain,  Holland,  Eng- 


LOUIS  XIV  191 

land,  Germany,  and  other  nations,  and  brilliant 
victories  were  won. 

These  successes  delighted  the  French  people, 
and  they  almost  adored  their  ''Grand  Monarch." 
Louis  XIV  became  almost  as  much  the  terror 
of  Europe  as  did  Napoleon  about  a  hundred 
years  later;  and  then  the  dechne  began. 

Among  the  men  who  helped  to  break  down  the 
military  glory  of  Louis  XIV,  was  Prince  Eugene 
of  Savoy. 

Prince  Eugene  was  born  in  Paris,  in  1663. 
As  soon  as  he  was  old  enough  for  miUtary  service 
he  asked  King  Louis  to  make  him  an  officer  in 
the  French  army. 

Louis  was  not  friendly  to  Eugene's  mother, 
and  the  request  of  the  young  prince  was  refused. 
Indignant  at  this,  Eugene  left  France;  but  he 
was  determined  to  be  a  soldier  somewhere. 

He  was  twenty  years  old  when  the  Turks 
laid  siege  to  Vienna,  and  he  was  among  the  sol- 
diers who  helped  to  drive  them  back.  His 
bravery  brought  him  into  notice,  and  he  rapidly 
rose  from  rank  to  rank.  At  twenty-one  he  was 
a  colonel,  at  twenty-two  a  major  general,  and 
at   twenty-four   a   lieutenant   general. 

After  serving  in  numerous  battles  against  the 
Turks,    Prince    Eugene    was    sent,    in    command 


192  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

of  an  Austrian  force,  into  Northern  Italy,  where 
Louis  XIV  was  threatening  the  province  of  Savoy. 

Eugene  now  had  one  of  the  great  satisfactions 
of  his  life. 

When  Louis  had  refused  him  a  commission 
in  the  French  army  he  had  said  that  he  would 
^never  again  enter  France  except  as  a  conqueror. 
After  several  victories  in  Italy,  he  marched  into 
France,  captured  several  towns,  and  returned  to 
Italy  laden  with  great  plunder,  thus  making  good 
his  word. 

But  the  most  important  thing  achieved  by 
Eugene  and  his  allies  during  this  war  with  Louis 
was  the  capture  of  a  strongly  fortified  town 
called  Casal  (ka'  sal).  This  town  stood  near  the 
borders  of  France  and  Italy,  and  commanded 
the  easiest  and  most  frequently  traveled  pass 
between  the  two  countries. 

When  the  town  was  taken,  Eugene  made  it 
one  of  the  conditions  of  surrender  that  its  forti- 
fications should  be  destroyed  and  never  rebuilt. 

Yet  this  did  not  prevent  Louis  XIV  from 
making  other  attempts  to  capture  Northern 
Italy;  and  Prince  Eugene  afterwards  served  in 
two  other  long  wars  that  were  successfully  fought 
in  its  defense. 

Louis  continued  fighting  against  Italy,  Bavaria, 


HAAHKN-M  1    -13 


194  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

and  the  Netherlands,  and  kept  all  Europe  in  a 
state  of  turmoil. 

Then  came  the  great  battle  of  Blenheim  (blen' 
im),  in  1704. 

Louis  had  made  himself  so  obnoxious,  and 
had  become  so  dreaded,  that  a  great  league  of 
the  European  nations  was  formed  against  him. 

In  the  battle  of  Blenheim  the  English,  under 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  united  their  forces 
with  those  of  the  Austrians  under  Prince  Eugene. 

The  defeat  of  Louis  XIV,  on  this  occasion, 
was  one  of  the  most  disastrous  ever  suffered  by 
the  French;  and  it  greatly  encouraged  those 
who  were  defending  the  liberties  of  Europe. 
Louis's  power  in  Bavaria  and  Holland  was  shat- 
tered, and  his  armies  were  never  again  so  much 
of  a  terror  as  they  had  been. 

Louis  did  not,  however,  give  up  at  once.  Fight- 
ing continued  for  about  ten  years  longer;  but 
there  were  no  further  victories  for  France. 

When  the  war  was  ended,  in  1713,  by  the 
peace  of  Utrecht  (u'  trekt),  the  French  were 
obliged  to  give  up  to  the  British,  Acadia,  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Territory  and  Newfoundland. 
Austria  also  was  given  possession  of  some  of  the 
territory  which  had  been  held  by  France. 

A  year  later,  in  1714,  by  the  Treaty  of  Rastatt 


LOUIS  XIV  195 

(ras  tat),  it  was  agreed  that  all  the  different 
nations  which  had  been  engaged  in  the  war 
should  have  just  what  belonged  to  them  before 
the  war  began. 

The  glory  of  France  and  her  ''Grand  Monarch" 
had  departed.  He  lived  only  a  little  more  than 
two  years  after  peace  was  proclaimed. 

He  died  on  September  1,  1715,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven,  having  reigned  seventy-two  years. 


SIR  ISAAC   NEWTON 

1642—1757 

In  1642,  the  very  year  in  which  the  great 
Civil  War  broke  out  between  Charles  I,  of  Eng- 
land, and  his  Parliament,  a  wonderful  man  was 
born,  named  Isaac  Newton. 

As  an  infant  he  was  so  feeble  that  none  of  his 
family  expected  that  he  would  live.  If  he  had 
been  a  Spartan  baby  he  would,  according  to 
Spartan  law,  certainly  have  been  put  to  death. 
But  by  extra  care  on  his  mother's  part  his  life 
was  saved,  and  he  grew  into  a  lad  with  more  than 
the  ordinary  powers  of  strength  and  endurance. 

He  was  born  in  Woolsthorpe,  in  Lincoln- 
shire, just  one  year  after  the  death  of  Galileo, 
to  whom  he  may  be  said  to  have  borne  a  strong 
mental  likeness. 

When  he  first  entered  school  he  did  not  seem 
to  be  a  very  bright  lad;  but  this  was  because 
he  was  not  really  trying  to  do  his  best. 

One  day  a  boy  who  ranked  above  him  in  his 
class  struck  him  a  severe  blow.  This  proved 
to  be  one  of  the  best  things  that  ever  happened 
to  young  Newton;    for,  feeling  that  he  was  no 


(VJl) 


\  ait  lUr  Zank 


198  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

match  for  the  other  lad  with  his  fists,  he  de- 
termined to  get  even  with  him  by  beating  him 
in  the  work  of  the  class.  This  he  soon  did;  and 
then  he  rose  higher  and  higher  until  he  stood 
above   all  the  other  boys  in   the   school. 

He  spent  most  of  his  play  hours  in  making 
mechanical  toys.  He  watched  some  workmen 
who  were  putting  up  a  windmill  near  his  school; 
and  then  made  a  working  model  of  it  and  fixed 
it  on  the  roof  of  the  house  in  which  he  lived. 

He  constructed  a  clock  which  was  worked 
by  a  stream  of  water  falling  upon  a  small  water 
wheel.  He  also  built  a  carriage  and  fitted  it 
with  levers  so  that  he  could  sit  in  it  and  move 
himself  from  place  to  place.  This  was,  per- 
haps,  the  first  velocipede  ever  constructed. 

In  Newton's  day  gas  lamps  and  electric  lights 
were  unknown.  The  winter  days  were  short, 
and  it  often  happened  that  he  had  to  go  to  school 
in  the  dark.  So  he  made  for  himself  a  paper 
lantern  to  give  him  light  on  his  early  journeys, 
and  this  was  soon  copied  by  the  other  boys. 

In  the  yard  of  the  house  in  which  his  parents 
lived  he  traced  on  a  wall,  by  means  of  fixed  pins, 
the  movements  of  the  sun.  Clocks  were  then 
very  expensive,  and  the  contrivance,  which  re- 
ceived the  name  of  "Isaac's  dial,"  was  a  stand- 


SIR   ISAAC  NEWTON  199 

ard  of  time  to  the  country  people  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. 

When  he  was  fourteen  his  stepfather  died, 
and  his  mother  thought  it  best  for  Isaac  to  work 
upon  a  farm  which  belonged  to  the  family.  So 
he  left  school;  but  he  had  no  love  for  plowing 
and  reaping,  or  for  attending  to  horses,  cows, 
and  pigs. 

The  sheep  went  astray  while  he  was  thinking 
out  some  problem  in  algebra  or  geometry;  and 
the  cattle  got  into  the  standing  crops  and  munched 
the  milky  wheat-ears  while  he  was  studying  the 
motions  of  the  moon,  or  wondering  what  made 
the  earth  go  round  the  sun. 

His  mother  soon  saw  that  Isaac  would  never 
make  a  farmer.  He  was  therefore  sent  back  to 
school  and  fitted  to  enter  college. 

He  was  the  most  wonderful  mathematician 
that  ever  graduated  from  the  University  of 
Cambridge;  and,  when  only  twenty-seven,  he 
was  made  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  col- 
lege in  which  he  had  studied. 

He  rose  to  eminence  in  the  university,  and 
through  the  influence  of  some  of  its  leaders  he 
was  appointed  Warden  of  the  Mint  in  1695,  and 
was  promoted  to  the  Mastership  four  years  later. 

He  then  moved  to  London,  and  went  to  live 


200 


FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 


in  a  little  house  near  Leicester  Square.  His 
salary  enabled  him  to  devote  himself  to  his  fav- 
orite studies;  and  this  he  proceeded  to  do. 

One  of  the  first  important  discoveries  he  made 
was  about  light. 

Before  his  time  e^'ery  one  thought  that  light 


NEWTOtJ  .USTD  THE   PRISM 

was  made  up  of  fine  lines,  or  rays;    bright,  but 
without   any    color. 

Isaac  made  an  experiment  which  any  boy  can 
repeat.  He  bored  a  small  hole  through  the  shut- 
ter of  a  window  so  as  to  allow  only  a  delicate 
pencil  of  light  to  enter  the  room.     This  made  a 


SIR   ISAAC   NEWTON  201 

round  spot  of  white  or  colorless  light  on  the  wall 
opposite  the  window;  and  he  set  out  to  examine 
this  spot  and  see  what  it  could  teach  him. 

When  he  put  a  glass  prism  into  the  pathway 
of  the  ray,  he  found  that  the  colorless  spot  dis- 
appeared. Instead  of  it  he  saw  on  the  wall, 
above  where  the  circular  spot  had  been,  a  beauti- 
ful band  of  light  in  which  several  colors  were 
blended.  At  the  top  end  this  band  was  blue. 
At  the  bottom  it  was  red.  In  the  middle  it  was 
yellow\ 

Newton  had  thus  discovered  that  a  ray  of 
white  Hght  is  made  up  of  colored  rays. 

His  next  experiment  was  with  soap   bubbles. 

He  found  that  when  blown  very  thin  the 
colors  of  the  light  could  be  more  plainly  dis- 
cerned, and  he  was  soon  aljle  to  count  seven 
distinct  tints — violet,  indigo,  blue,  green,  yellow, 
orange  and  red.  These  are  the  seven  colors 
seen  in  the  rainbow. 

But  the  greatest  of  Newton's  discoveries  was 
that  which  is  now  spoken  of  as  ''The  Law  of 
Gravitation." 

Everybody  know,  long  before  Newton  was 
born,  that  apples  foil  from  trees  to  the  ground; 
but  no  one  seems  to  Ii.inc  asked  the  question  why 
they  nc\er  inoNcd  the  other  wny. 


202  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

All  boys  know  that  a  ball  thrown  up  into  the  air 
will  come  down  again;  but  no  one,  before  Newton 
lived,   had   tried   to   find   out   why   this  was  so. 

At  first  he  seems  to  have  thought  that  only 
things  that  were  near  to  the  earth  would  fall 
to  its  surface.  But  when  he  thought  how  the 
rain  drops  fell  from  the  clouds  he  saw  that  his 
theory  was  not  true. 

Then  he  thought  of  the  moon  going  round 
the  earth;  and  wondered  how  it  kept  just  so  high 
up  in  the  sky;  and  why  it  did  not  fall  like  the 
rain  drops.  This  was  a  new  puzzle  and  he  set 
to  work  to  solve  it. 

About  two  hundred  years  before  Isaac  New- 
ton was  born,  a  great  Polish  astronomer  named 
Copernicus  had  written  a  book  in  which  he  had 
said  that  people  were  wrong  who  believed  that 
the  sun  goes  round  the  earth. 

Copernicus  insisted  that  the  earth  moves  round 
the  sun.  At  the  first  people  made  fun  of  this  idea, 
but  by  Newton's  day  they  had  begun  to  believe  it. 
Isaac  began  to  wonder  if  this  theory  might  not 
help  him  to  solve  his  problem. 

One  of  the  favorite  games  of  the  boys  of  that 
day  was  to  throw  stones  with  a  sling.  Doubt- 
less Isaac  had  himself  used  one  many  times  in 
his  play. 


SIR  ISAAC  NEWTON  203 

Now  that  he  was  grown  up  he  remembered 
how  he  had  whu'led  the  stones  round  and  round 
at  a  high  rate  of  speed;  and  yet  they  never  left 
the  sHng  until  he  let  go  one  of  the  strings. 

Isaac  knew^  that  the  moon  goes  w^hirling  round 
the  earth  at  the  rate  of  about  fifty  thousand 
miles  every  day;  and  that  the  earth  whirls  round 
the  sun  at  the  rate  of  about  one  thousand  miles 
a  minute. 

Certainly,  thought  Newton,  the  moon  goes 
round  the  earth,  and  the  earth  goes  round  the 
sun,  just  as  a  stone  is  whirled  round  in  a  sling; 
but  there  must  be  something  stronger  than  a 
cord  to  keep  them  in  their  places. 

After  thinking  about  the  matter  for  a  long 
time,  he  said,  the  moon  is  drawn  toward  the 
earth  by  a  very  powerful  force;  but  she  does 
not  come  nearer  to  the  earth,  or  fall  upon  it, 
any  more  than  the  stone  in  the  sling  falls  upon 
the  hand  of  the  slinger,  because,  like  the  stone, 
she   is  in   rapid   motion. 

The  earth  is  drawn  toward  the  sun  by  the 
same  wonckM-ful  force  that  draws  the  moon  to- 
ward the  earth;  yet  the  earth  does  not  fall  upon 
the  sun  because  it  is  all  the  while  whirling  forward 
at  the    rate    of  a   thousand  miles  a    minute. 

Newton  saw  that  the  force  which  brings  the 


204  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

stone  and  the  apple  down  to  the  ground  is  the 
very  same  that  draws  the  moon  toward  the 
earth  and  the  earth  toward  the  sun.  He  called 
this  force  '^ Gravity/'  or  force  of  weight. 

Then  his  great  mind  went  on  thinking  beyond 
the  moon  and  the  earth  to  the  far  away  stars. 
He  soon  learned  that  the  same  force  which 
keeps  the  moon  and  the  earth  in  their  orbits, 
keeps  all  the  stars  of  the  sky  in  their  courses. 

For  his  great  discoveries  he  was  highly  honored 
])y  the  learned  men  of  his  day.  He  was  made 
a  member  of  the  Royal  Society,  a  society  estab- 
lished for  the  purpose  of  gathering  up  and  trea- 
suring all  forms  of  valuable  knowledge. 

The  Royal  Society  aided  him  in  pubHshing 
his  books,  of  which  he  wrote  twelve.  The  most 
important  of  these  is  called  the  '^Principia." 

In  1705  he  was  knighted  by  Queen  Anne;  and 
when  he  died,  in  1727,  his  body  lay  in  state  for 
a  whole  week  in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber;  and 
was  then  buried  with  great  pomp  in  Westmin- 
ster Abbey. 


WILLIAM   III,   KING   OF   ENGLAND 

1650—1702 

The  story  of  King  William's  life  is  an  interest- 
ing one. 

He  was  born  in  Holland  in  1650,  and  was  a 
prince  of  the  distinguished  house  of  Orange, 
which  for  many  years  had  been  prominent  in  the 
history  of  the  Netherlands. 

William  was  carefully  educated.  He  showed 
so  much  ability  that  when  he  was  only  twenty- 
two  years  old  he  was  chosen  stadtholder,  or 
president    of    the    Netherlands. 

In  1672,  Louis  XIV,  ^\ith  an  army  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  thousand  men,  under  the 
command  of  Turenne  and  Condc,  invaded  the 
Netherlands.  England  united  her  forces  with 
France,  and  lent  her  fleet  to  crush  the  power 
of  the  Dutch.  Town  after  town  was  taken  by 
the  French,  and  the  Dutch  were  in  a  terrible 
plight. 

Young  as  he  was,  William  carried  on  the  war 
like  an  experienced  general.  His  army  had  re- 
verses at  first;  l)ut  his  belief  in  the  final  triumph 
of  the  Dutch  never  left  him. 


206  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Once  a  despondent  official  said  to  him,  "Do 
you  not  see  that  the  country  is  lost?" 

"Lost!"  replied  William,  "No,  it  is  not  lost; 
and  I  shall  never  see  it  lost!" 

In  this  spirit  of  confidence  he  fought  his  ene- 
mies, never  despairing,  never  acknowledging 
defeat. 

After  many  successes  the  French  were  about 
to  seize  the  city  of  Amsterdam.  William  or- 
dered the  dikes  to  be  cut,  and  the  waters  of 
the  North  Sea  spread  over  the  lowlands.  The 
growing  crops  were  ruined,  but  the  flood  checked 
the  invading  army. 

When,  in  1674,  peace  was  made  with  England, 
New  York,  which  was  originally  a  Dutch  settle- 
ment and  was  called  New  Amsterdam,  was  ceded 
to  Great  Britain.  It  was  re-named  New  York 
in  honor  of  James,  Duke  of  York,  to  whom  his 
brother  Charles  II  had,  in  1664,  granted  all  the 
land  between  the  Connecticut  and  the  Delaware. 

France  inflicted  great  disasters  upon  the  Nether- 
lands and  actually  secured  part  of  her  territory, 
but  Louis  was  at  length  forced  to  withdraw 
from  the  country.  The  Dutch,  under  the  heroic 
leadership  of  their  young  stadtholder,  main- 
tained their  independence. 

On   the   death   of   King   Charles   II,   in    1685, 


WILLIAM  III  KING  OF  ENGLAND  207 

the  Duke  of  York  came  to  the  English  throne 
under  the  title  of  James  II. 

He,  however,  aroused  very  great  dissatisfaction 
in  England  by  some  of  his  acts;  and  in  June 
1688  a  letter  was  sent  to  William  of  Orange, 
inviting  him  and  his  wife  Mary,  who  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  James  II.,  to  become  sovereigns  of  Eng- 
land. 

This  letter  was  signed  by  seven  leading  men 
of  both  the  great  political  parties  in  England. 
It  assured  William  that  it  was  the  universal 
wish  of  the  English  nation  that  he  should  be- 
come its  ruler. 

The  invitation  was  accepted.  The  Nether- 
lands, glad  to  have  their  honored  stadtholder 
on  the  English  throne,  furnished  him  with  an 
army  of  about  thirteen  thousand  men,  and  a 
fleet  of  more  than  six  hundred  ships,  and  with 
these  forces  he  reached  England  in  November, 
1688. 

William  landed  his  army  and  marched  to  Exe- 
ter, where  the  citizens  welcomed  him  in  a  very 
enthusiastic  manner.  Thousands  of  the  nobles, 
gentry  and  common  people  flocked  to  his  stand- 
ard. His  army  rapidly  increased.  Everywhere 
in  England  there  was  great  rejoicing  at  his  ar- 
rival. 


208  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

King  James  gathered  a  strong  force,  mostly 
from  Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  marched  to 
Salisbury  to  check  the  revolt.  But  William 
met  him  bravely,  and  the  king's  army  fell  back 
in  disorder  and  many  of  the  officers  and  men 
deserted. 

James  gave  up  the  struggle  in  despair,  and 
hastened  to  London.  There  he  learned  that 
his  daughter,  Anne,  had  left  his  palace  to  join 
the  revolters. 

'^God  help  me,"  cried  the  king,  "for  my  own 
children  have  forsaken  me!" 

His  spirit  was  utterly  broken,  and  he  prepared 
for  a  rapid  journey  to  France.  He  knew  that 
the  throne  was  lost  to  him,  and  he  resolved  to  flee 
from  England  and  cast  himself  upon  the  hospital- 
ity of  his  cousin,  the  French  king,  Louis  XIV. 

Leaving  the  palace  at.  night,  and  in  disguise, 
he  threw  the  seals  of  state  into  the  Thames, 
and  then  took  a  boat  to  a  ship  which  was  lying 
some  distance  down  the  river.  James  hoped 
to  sail  in  this  ship  to  France;  but  his  escape  was 
prevented  by  a  fisherman  who  thought  him  a 
suspicious  character,  and  he  was  brought  back 
to  London. 

William  and  Mary,  with  the  army  that  sup- 
ported   them,    came    to    London.     There    was   a 


(209) 


HAAHEN-M  T.-14 


210  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

wonderful  demonstration  of  joy  by  the  people 
of  the  metropolis,  and  the  queen  was  greeted 
with  acclamation.  A  committee  of  Parliament 
drew  up  a  Declaration  of  Rights,  which  was 
presented  to  William  and  Mary.  It  declared 
what  the  rights  of  EngUshmen  are,  stated  that 
no  sovereign  could  interfere  with  those  rights, 
and  expressed  the  resolve  of  both  houses  of 
Parliament  to  maintain  them. 

It  seemed  Hke  a  second  Magna  Charta.  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  both  signed  it,  and  they  were  then, 
in  February,  1689,  declared  king  and  queen  of 
England. 

This  change  in  the  rulers — the  abdication  of 
King  James  and  the  coming  of  WilHam  and 
Mary — is  called  the  Revolution  of  1688. 

As  has  been  said,  it  was  easily  accomplished 
in  England;  but  in  Ireland  there  was  decided 
opposition  to  it.  Londonderry  and  Enniskillen 
were  the  only  Irish  towns  that  declared  for 
William  and  Mary.  The  other  towns  were 
strongly  in   favor   of  James. 

Finally,  James  came  from  France  to  Ireland, 
collected  an  army  and  began  a  war  on  those  who 
supported  the  new  sovereigns.  He  received  as- 
sistance from  Louis  XIV  of  France.  Those  who 
fought   for  James   were   called   ^'Jacobites"   and 


(2U) 


212  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

the  others  were  called  "Orangemen."  The  war 
in  Ireland  lasted  but  a  few  months;  for  at  the 
battle  of  the  Boyne,  on  July  12,  1690,  James's 
army  was  defeated,  and  all  resistance  in  Ireland 
came  to  an  end. 

William  was  then  formally  recognized  as  king 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

England  had  declared  war  on  France;  and  it 
became  necessary  for  William  to  visit  the  Euro- 
pean continent.  He  there  made  alliances  with 
Austria,  Spain,  and  other  nations.  While  he 
was  absent  from  England,  Mary  ruled  the  king- 
dom, and  ruled  it  well. 

William  was  engaged  for  some  years  in  the  con- 
test on  the  continent.  He  won  many  great 
battles,  but  he  also  suffered  disastrous  defeats. 
While  he  was  in  Europe  another  attempt  was 
made  by  James  to  invade  England  and  regain  the 
throne. 

Louis  XIV  again  provided  James  with  soldiers 
and  war  ships;  and  an  expedition  sailed  for 
England.  James  was  confident  of  success;  and 
all  associated  with  him  thought  it  would  be  an 
easy  matter  to  accomplish  the  undertaking. 

Near  the  coast  of  Normandy  the  invading 
fleet  came  upon  the  combined  English  and  Dutch 
fleet;    and,  off  Cape  La  Hogue,  a  furious  battle 


WILLIAM  III  KING   OF  ENGLAND  213 

took  place.  The  English  and  Dutch  gained  a 
brilliant  victory,  and  James  sailed  back  to  France, 
and  never  again  made  a  movement  to  recover 
the  English  throne. 

While  England  and  France  were  fighting  in 
Europe,  the  colonies  of  the  two  countries  were 
fighting  in  America.  The  war  is  known  in  Ameri- 
can  history  as  King  William's  War. 

The  reign  of  William  and  Mary  is  of  great  in- 
terest to  us  in  the  United  States.  Those  sover- 
eigns were  not  accepted  by  the  people  of  Eng- 
land until  they  had  signed  the  Declaration  of 
Rights;  and  the  very  first  Act  passed  by  Parha- 
ment  during  their  reign  was  one  which  made 
the  Declaration  a  part  of  the  laws  of  the  land. 

That  Declaration  secured  their  rights  not  only 
to  the  subjects  who  lived  in  the  ''mother  country," 
but  also  to  those  in  the  colonies.  One  of  its  pro- 
visions was  "that  it  is  the  right  of  the  subjects 
to  petition  the  king." 

George  III  spurned  the  petitions  of  the  colon- 
ists, and  otherwise  violated  the  rights  claimed 
in  the  Declaration,  just  as  James  II  had  done. 
What  the  American  colonists  did,  therefore, 
when  they  fought  the  battles  of  the  Revolution, 
was  very  similar  to  what  the  people  of  England 
had    done   a   hundred   years   before,    when   they 


214  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

dethroned  James  and  offered  the  crown  to  WilHam 
and  Mary. 

The  EngHsh  Revolution  of  1688,  and  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution,  had  exactly  the  same  purpose. 


SOBIESKI 
1624—1696 

The  Poles  first  appeared  in  history  in  the  fifth 
century  under  the  name  of  Poliani. 

There  appears  to  have  been  a  definitely  or- 
ganized kingdom  of  Poland  as  early  as  the  tenth 
century.  But  the  country  did  not  rise  into 
much  prominence  until  the  fourteenth  century; 
and  it  attained  its  greatest  splendor  in  the  seven- 
teenth. 

The  name  Poland  is  derived  from  a  word 
meaning  plains.  For  many  centuries  great  herds 
of  cattle,  horses,  and  swine  have  been  raised 
within  its  territory;  and  cereals,  hemp,  timber, 
honey,  and  wax  have  been  produced  in  large 
quantities. 

Numerous  mines  of  salt,  and  a  few  of  iron, 
copper  and  silver,  have  been  worked  at  different 
periods;    but  they  are  not  of  much  value. 

After  passing  through  a  vast  number  of  changes, 
Poland  became,  in  1572,  an  elective  monarchy; 
and  this  j)rincipal  became  one  of  the  chief  causes 
of  the  national  downfall. 

The  nation  consisted   of  but  two  classes,    the 


216  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

nobles  who  owned  the  soil,    and  the  serfs   who 
cultivated  it.     There  was  no  third  estate. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write  the  Turks  were 
at  the  height  of  their  power  in  southeastern 
Europe.  Their  flag  still  waved,  as  it  had  done 
for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  over  Belgrade;  and 
Belgrade  was  the  gateway  to  Hungary. 

Their  fleets  swept  the  Mediterranean.  They 
captured  the  island  of  Crete  from  the  powerful 
state  of  Venice;  and  they  fortified  the  Dar- 
danelles, so  that  no  ships  could  enter  the  Black 
Sea  without  their  permission. 

Poland  being  famous  for  its  wheat  and  cattle, 
the  Turks  greatly  desired  to  possess  it. 

They  therefore  invaded  Poland  with  a  large 
army;  but  the  Poles  met  them  bravely  and  in  a 
great  battle  in  which  Sobieski  served  as  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  Polish  forces  succeeded 
in   beating   them  back. 

Just  at  that  time  the  king  of  Poland  died 
quite  suddenly;  and  the  Diet  assembled  to  select 
a  successor.  Sobieski  entered  the  hall  where 
the  Diet  was  in  session  and  proposed  the  name  of 
a  French  prince.  Then  one  of  the  nobles  was 
heard  to  say,  "Let  a  Pole  rule  Poland."  Sobi- 
eski was  at  once  proposed  and  elected  with  hardly 
a  dissentient  voice. 


SOBIESKI 


217 


John  Sol^ieski  was  born  in  1624,  at  Olesko, 
in  Galicia.  His  father  was  castellan  or  keeper 
of  the  castle  of  Cracow.     John  received  an  ex- 


Martin 


STARHEMHERG,    THE    DEFENDER    OF    VIENNA 


cellent  education,  both  at  home  and  in  foreign 
countries;  nnd  lliis  was  of  great  advantage  to 
him  when  lie  was  elevated  to  the  throne. 

Poland    was,    at    tli;i(     time,    one    of    the    most 


218  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

powerful  countries  of  Europe.  It  was  stronger 
by  far  than  Russia;  and  gave  promise  of  a  still 
greater  future. 

A  hundred  years  before  this  the  Turks  had 
threatened  Vienna,  and  they  now  determined 
to  conquer  all  Austria. 

In  1683  they  gathered  a  vast  army  and  marched 
a  second  time  against  Vienna,  which  was  at  that 
time  not  only  the  principal  city  of  Austria,  but 
the  capital  of  the  German  Empire. 

The  emperor  then  ruling  over  Germany  was 
Leopold  I.  He  wore  the  crown  of  Charlemagne, 
but  he  was  not  worthy  to  do  so. 

As  soon  as  he  heard  that  the  Turks  were  march- 
ing toward  Vienna  he  fled  from  the  city;  and 
many  of  the  nobles  and  wealthy  people  followed 
his  example. 

Count  Starhemberg  who  was  in  command  of 
the  garrison  stayed  at  his  post,  and  did  every- 
thing possible  to  prevent  the  city  from  falling 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

The  fortifications  needed  repair.  Not  only 
the  men  but  the  women  aided  in  the  work.  The 
women  mixed  mortar  and  even  carried  stone 
while  the  men  built  up  the  walls. 

One  day,  as  the  people  of  Vienna  were  looking 
eastward,  they  saw  columns  of  smoke  ascending. 


SOBIESKI  219 

Crops  were  burning,  and  houses  and  villages 
were  in  flames. 

This  told  them,  only  too  plainly,  that  the 
Turks  were  approaching;  and  at  sunrise,  on 
the  fourteenth  of  July,  1683,  they  appeared  be- 
fore the  city  walls. 

Their  camp  made  a  semicircle  or  crescent  reach- 
ing more  than  half  around  the  city. 

As  in  Athens,  during  the  terrible  siege  by  the 
Spartans  in  the  Peloponnesian  War,  so  now  in 
Vienna  the  plague  broke  out.  This  was  because 
the  people  who  had  rushed  into  the  city  from 
the  country  were  huddled  so  closely  together. 

The  amount  of  sickness  was  terrible.  Then 
a  fire  broke  out;  and  as  there  were  no  fire  engines 
nor  other  appliances  with  which  to  fight  the 
flames,  a  great  many  houses  were  burned,  and 
hundreds  of  families  were  rendered  homeless. 
Things  looked  very  discouraging;  but  just  when 
they  were  at  the  worst  help  came. 

John  Sobieski,  king  of  Poland,  was  marching 
to  the  relief  of  the  beleaguered  city.  He  had 
sixty-five  thousand  men  in  his  army;  and  John 
George,  the  Elector  of  Saxony  had  joined  him 
with    thirteen    thousand    more. 

Before  beginning  the  attack  on  the  Turks, 
Sobieski  made  a  speech  to  his  men  in  which  he 


(220) 


RELIEF    OF    VIENNA 


SOBIESKI  221 

said,  ''Not  Vienna  alone,  but  Christendom  looks 
to  you  to-day.  Xot  for  an  earthl}^  sovereign  do 
you  fight.     You  are  soldiers  of  the  King  of  kings." 

The  battle  cry  was  Sobieski's  own  name.  It 
was  well  known  to  the  Turks,  for  they  had  met 
him  before,  and  thousands  of  Turks  fled  before 
hundreds  of  his  Poles.  His  very  name  seemed 
to  fill  them  with  dread. 

Large  numbers  of  the  Turkish  soldiers  stood 
their  ground,  however,  and  fought  desperately; 
but  they  could  not  withstand  the  furious  charges 
of  the  Poles. 

Sobieski  himself  went  into  the  battle  singing 
the  words  of  the  psalm  beginning:  "Not  unto 
us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name  give 
glory,  for  thy  mercy,  and  for  thy  truth's  sake." 

Six  of  the  sultan's  pashas,  or  generals,  were 
killed;  and  the  grand  vizier,  or  prime  minister 
of  Turkey,  abandoned  his  splendid  green  silk 
tent  that  was  embroidered  with  gold  and  silver, 
and    fled    for   his   life. 

The  whole  Moslem  army  was  routed;  and  the 
concjueror  and  his  troops  entered  the  city  in 
trium})h.  A  great  service  of  thanksgiving  was 
held  in  the  cathedral;  and  one  of  the  priests 
preached  a  sermon  from  the  text:  ''There  was 
a  man  sent  from  CJod  whose  name  was  John." 


222  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Never  again  did  the  Turks  attack  Vienna. 
City  after  city  was  lost  to  their  empire;  and 
all  Hungary  was  finally  won  back  from  them. 

Since  Sobieski's  great  victory,  the  power  of 
the  Turks  has  steadily  waned  rather  than  in- 
creased. 

They  have  been  slowly  pushed  to  the  eastward 
until  there  is  now  httle  of  value  left  to  them  in 
Europe  but  Constantinople. 

The  reign  of  John  Sobieski  was  the  most  bril- 
liant in  PoHsh  history.  But  the  constant  dis- 
sensions and  the  unending  turbulence  of  the 
Polish  nobles  frustrated  all  his  efforts  to  strengthen 
the  kingdom,  and  prepared  the  way  for  its  final 
dismemberment  and  ruin. 

The  hero  of  Poland  has  not,  like  Hercules  and 
Perseus,  given  his  name  to  a  great  constellation; 
but  in  the  brightest  part  of  the  Milky  Way  hangs 
a  gleaming  expanse  of  star  dust  known  as  Sobi- 
eski's shield;  so  that,  until  the  stars  forget  to 
shine,  or  men  to  watch  them,  the  name  of  the 
great  Polish  hero  will  never  be  forgotten. 


PETER  THE   GREAT 

1672—1725 

In  the  history  of  Russia  there  is  no  name  more 
famous  than  that  of  Peter  the  Great. 

Before  his  time  the  Russians  were  far  behind 
the  otlier  nations  of  Europe  in  knowledge  of  the 

arts    and    the  com- 
forts of  Ufe. 

Peter  devoted  a 
large  part  of  his 
reign  to  improving 
the  condition  of  his 
country  and  his 
people.  He  made 
Russia  prosperous, 
powerful,  and  re- 
spected. 

He  was  born  in 
1672,  and  was  the 
son  of  the  Emperor 
Alexis.  When  only  ten  years  old  he  came  to 
the  throne,  together  with  his  brother  Ivan, 
who  was  almost  an  idiot.  The  boys  were  pro- 
claimed   joint    emperors    of    Russia;    but     I  heir 


rr.TKK    THK    fiUK.VT 


224  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

sister,  Sophia,  who  was  many  years  older  than 
they,  acted  as  regent. 

Sophia  determined  to  make  herself  empress, 
and  leagued  herself  with  Galitzin,  the  prime 
minister,  with  that  end  in  view. 

''Madam,"  said  Galitzin,  "we  need  fear  noth- 
ing from   Ivan,   but  Peter  alarms  me.     He  has 
a  thirst  for  knowledge  that  cannot  be  quenched. 
He  wishes  to  know  everything." 

It  was  as  the  minister  said.  Peter  had  a  re- 
markable desire  for  knowledge;  and  he  learned 
many  useful  things. 

When  he  was  about  seventeen  years  of  age 
he  was  informed  that  his  sister  Sophia  and  Prince 
Galitzin  intended  to  murder  him.  Peter  at  once 
banished  Galitzin  to  the  icy  region  of  Archangel 
and  confined  his  sister  in  a  convent.  He  thus 
became,  at  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  the  active 
ruler  of  Russia;  for  Ivan  could  take  no  share 
in  the  government. 

Peter  listened  to  others  before  taking  im- 
portant action.  He  valued  particularly  the  ad- 
vice of  a  brilliant  Swiss,  named  Lefort,  to  whom 
he  gave  a  high  position  in  his  court. 

Lefort  urged  that  the  army  should  be  made 
larger,  and  be  better  drilled  and  equipped.  The 
young    emperor    accepted    this    advice.     He    ap- 


PETER  THE   GREAT  225 

pointed  Lefort  to  be  commander  of  one  division 
of  his  army,  and  directed  him  to  equip  and  drill 
it  in  the  very  best  manner. 

Peter  himself  served  for  a  few  months  under 
the  command  of  Lefort  as  a  common  soldier. 
He  performed  all  his  duties  with  the  greatest 
faithfulness.  He  became  a  subordinate  officer, 
and  then  rose  gradually  through  every  grade 
until  he  reached  the  rank  of  general. 

Under  Lefort 's  direction  the  army  was  made 
a  splendid  body  of  fighting  men. 

One  day,  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  Peter 
noticed  on  the  river  which  flows  through  Moscow 
a  small  boat  with  a  keel.  He  inquired  what 
the  keel  was  for,  and  was  greatly  interested  to 
learn  that  it  was  to  enable  the  boat  to  sail  against 
the  wind. 

The  boat  had  been  built  for  Peter's  father  by 
a  Dutchman  named  Brandt;  and  this  man  was 
at  once  instructed  to  put  it  into  first-rate  order. 
This  being  done,  the  Dutchman  gave  Peter  some 
lessons  in  sailing,  so  that  the  young  czar  became 
quite  an  expert  sailor. 

Russia  at  that  time  had  only  one  seaport.  It 
was  Archangel  on  the  White  Sea.  So  to  Archan- 
gel the  czar  went,  and  made  it  his  home  for 
several  months. 

HAAHtN-M.T.-15 


226  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

While  there,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  a 
Dutch  captain  named  Musch;  and  from  him  he 
learned  all  about  ships  and  their  management. 
He  began  as  a  cabin  boy,  and  worked  up  through 
every  department  of  a  seafaring  life  until  he  was 
fitted  to  be  a  naval  commander. 

Peter  felt  that  he  must  have  a  navy  and  must 
be  at  its  head;  so  he  thought  he  ought  to  know 
about  the  building  of  ships  as  well  as  their  man- 
agement. He  therefore  determined  to  go  to 
Holland  and  learn  the  art  of  shipbuilding. 

Putting  the  affairs  of  his  empire  in  charge  of 
three  nobles,  he  left  Russia,  with  Lefort  and  some 
other  companions,  and  went  to  Amsterdam,  the 
most  important  city  of  the  Netherlands. 

After  visiting  Amsterdam  and  examining  its 
shipping  and  its  docks,  he  went  to  a  httle  town 
called  Zaandam  near  by,  and  there  became  a 
workman  in  a  yard  where  ships  were  built  for 
the  famous  Dutch  East  India  Company.  He 
lived  in  a  Httle  cottage  near  the  yard  and  cooked 
his  own  food. 

After  working  some  time  in  Zaandam  he  spent 
four  or  five  months  as  a  shipwright  near  London, 
because  some  things  connected  with  shipbuild- 
ing could  be  better  learned  in  England  than  in 
the  Netherlands. 


PETER  THE  GREAT  227. 

When,  by  taking  lessons  in  both  countries, 
he  had  thoroughly  mastered  the  art,  he  returned 
to  his  own  country. 

He  now  began  the  building  of  the  Russian  navy 
at  a  place  in  southern  Russia,  on  the  Verona 
River.     The   vessels  built  were   small  gunboats. 

While  they  were  being  built,  some  one  said  to 
Peter,  ''Of  what  use  wdll  your  vessels  be  to  you? 
You  have  no  good  seaport." 

''My  vessels  shall  make  ports  for  themselves," 
replied  Peter;  and  before  long  they  did  so. 

The  first  port  captured  was  Azof  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Don.  It  was  taken  from  the  Turks.  The 
Russian  fleet  sailed  down  the  river,  and  made 
the  attack  by  sea;  while  twelve  thousand  troops 
attacked  by  land.  Peter  himself  was  some- 
times \\'ith  the  army  on  land,  sometimes  on 
board  one  of  his  vessels. 

The  capture  of  Azof  gave  Russia  a  port  on 
the  Black  Sea.  But  this  was  only  the  beginning. 
A  greater  work  was  done  in  the  north,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Neva. 

When  Peter  came  to  the  throne,  Sweden  was 
the  great  military  and  naval  power  of  northern 
Europe.  The  Swedes  were  masters  of  the  Baltic 
Sea,  and  of  the  CJulf  of  Finland.  Peter  said 
that  the  Swedes  were  the  oppressors  of  Russia; 


PETER  THE   GREAT  229 

and  that  he  would  free  the  land  from  their  presence. 

When  in  the  Netherlands  he  had  lived  near 
Amsterdam.  It  was  a  great  seaport  near  the 
mouth  of  a  river.  The  land  upon  which  it  stood 
was  sw^ampy;  and  its  dwellings,  its  warehouses, 
and  its  magnificent  churches  and  public  build- 
ings rested  on  piles. 

The  River  Neva  flows  into  the  Gulf  of  Fin- 
land. Peter  determined  to  build  a  Russian  Am- 
sterdam on  its  swampy  banks. 

The  king  of  Sweden,  the  famous  Charles  XII, 
claimed  the  pro\'ince  at  the  mouth  of  the  River 
Neva.  In  spite  of  this  Peter  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  his  new  city  and  called  it  St.  Petersburg. 

When  the  king  of  Sweden  heard  what  was 
going  on  he  said,  ''I  shall  soon  put  those  houses 
into  a  blaze." 

The  Swedish  fortresses  guarded  the  province 
and  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Whoever  held  them 
would  control  the  commerce  of  St.  Petersburg. 

The  Swedish  king  was  astonished  soon  after 
hearing  that  the  foundations  of  St.  Petersburg 
had  been  laid,  to  learn  that  Peter's  new  army 
and  navy  had  captured  his  two  fortresses,  and 
that  the  province  at  the  mouth  of  the  Neva 
was  in   Peter's  hands. 

Soon    afterward,    with    a    well    drilled    army, 


230  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Charles  laid  siege  to  Poltava,  a  small  fortified 
town  of  the  Russians.  Peter  marched  against 
him.  Both  sovereigns  commanded  their  armies 
in  person. 

Charles  had  been  wounded  in  his  heel,  and 
had  to  be  carried  into  battle  on  a  litter.  During 
the  battle  a  cannon-ball  killed  one  of  the  bearers 
and  shattered  the  litter;  whereupon  the  king 
is  said  to  have  ordered  some  of  the  men  to  carry 
him  upon  their  pikes. 

Peter,  like  Charles,  was  in  the  hottest  of  the 
fire.  His  clothes  were  shot  through  in  several 
places,  one  ball  going  through  his  hat. 

After  desperate  fighting  on  both  sides  the 
Swedes  gave  way.  They  left  more  than  half 
their  number  dead   or  wounded  upon  the  field. 

Only  a  few  hundred  men  escaped  with  the  king 
who,  it  is  said,  was  taken  off  the  field  in  a  carriage 
drawn  by  twelve  horses. 

The  victory  at  Poltava  was  followed  by  naval 
successes  in  the  Gulf  of  Finland.  Abo,  then 
the  capital  of  Finland,  and  Helsingfors,  which  is 
the  present  capital,  w^re  both  captured,  and 
the  Russians  became  masters  of  the  gulf. 

Peter  was  determined  that  his  people  should 
become  a  commercial  nation.  He  urged  them 
to  engage  in  foreign  trade  and  encouraged  foreign- 


PETER   THE   GREAT  231 

ers  to  bring  their  merchandise  to  Russia's  new 
ports.  Less  than  six  months  after  the  first 
stone  of  St.  Petersburg  was  laid,  a  large  ship  un- 
der Dutch  colors  ascended  the  Neva  and  an- 
chored off  the  city  site. 

Peter  himself  went  on  board  to  welcome  the 
strangers.  The  skipper  was  invited  to  dine  at 
the  house  of  one  of  the  nobles.  Peter  and  several 
officers  of  his  government  bought  the  entire 
cargo;  and  when  the  ship  sailed  from  St.  Peters- 
burg the  captain  received  a  present  of  about  two 
hundred  dollars,  and  each  of  his  crew  a  smaller 
sum  of  money,  as  a  premium  for  having  brought 
the  first  foreign  vessel  into  the  new  port. 

Peter  encouraged  his  people  in  the  different 
parts  of  Russia  to  carry  on  commerce  with  one 
another,  and  he  made  it  easy  for  them  to  do  so. 
He  improved  the  roads,  aided  in  pro\dding  boats 
for  navigating  the  rivers,  and  undertook  the 
gigantic  work  of  uniting  the  great  seas,  the 
Baltic,  the  Black  and  the  Caspian  Seas  by  canals. 

Toward  the  close  of  his  reign  Peter  visited  the 
town  of  Zaandam  in  Holland  where  he  had  learned 
the  trade  of  shi])buil(ling.  There  he  found  some 
of  his  okl  companions,  and  was  deUghtcd  to  hear 
them  salute  him  as  Peter  Bass,  the  name  by  which 
they  had  known  liim  nearly  twenty  years  before. 


232  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

He  went  to  the  little  cottage  in  which  he  had 
lived.  It  is  still  carefull}'  preserved.  In  one 
room  are  to  be  seen  the  Httle  oak  table  and  three 
chairs  which  were  there  when  Peter  occupied  it. 
Over  the  chimney-piece  is  an  inscription  which 
every  boy  who  is  making  his  way  up  in  the  world 
might  well  take  for  his  motto,  ''To  a  great  man 
nothing  is  little." 

Peter  w^ent  to  see  an  old  friend,  Kist  the  black- 
smith, who  was  at  work  in  his  smithy.  The 
czar  took  the  job  from  him.  He  blew  the  bellows, 
heated  the  piece  of  iron  and  beat  it  out  with  the 
great  hammer  into  the  required  shape.  Though 
he  was  the  ruler  of  millions  of  people  he  was 
proud  of  being  a  workman  and  of  being  able  to 
do  things  for  himself. 

No  sovereign  ever  more  truly  deserved  the 
title  ''Great"  than  did  Peter.  He  found  his 
empire  feeble  and  left  it  with  a  well-drilled  army 
and  a  large  navy.  He  found  it  without  com- 
merce. He  secured  for  it  ports  to  which  foreign 
ships  might  bring  merchandise;  and  he  dug 
canals  so  that  the  different  parts  of  the  country 
might  easily  carry  on  trade  with  one  another. 

Thus  he  was,  in  the  best  sense,  great,  be- 
cause he  made  his  country  great;  and  provided 
for  his  people  new  and  better  ways  of  living. 


CHARLES  XII   OF  SWEDEN 

1682—1718 

In  the  year  1697  a  strange  coronation  service 
took  place  in  the  city  of  Stockholm.  A  boy  of 
only  fifteen  years  of  age  was  crowned  king  of 
Sweden,  and  took  the  title  of  Charles  XII. 

He  was  born  in  1682.  When  he  was  only  three 
or  four  years  old  the  queen  went  into  the  nursery 
to  take  him  to  church,  but  he  refused  to  get 
down  from  the  high  chair  in  w^hich  he  was  perched 
because  he  had  promised  his  nurse  that  he  would 
not  leave  his  seat  until  she  had  given  him  per- 
mission. 

He  was  taught  German  as  well  as  Swedish 
as  soon  as  he  could  speak;  and  history,  geo- 
graphy, and  arithmetic  seemed  like  play  to  him. 

When  only  four  years  old  he  was  put  astride 
a  horse,  and  at  eight  he  was  a  good  rider.  At 
eleven  he  killed  his  first  bear;  and  l)efore  he  was 
twelve  he  shot  a  stag  at  a  distance  of  ninety 
yards. 

As  soon  as  he  began  to  wear  the  crown  he  be- 
came very  pompous  and  arrogant.  No  one  was 
allowed  to  find  fault  with  anything  that  he  did. 


234  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

About  a  year  after  Charles  was  made  king 
two  princesses  were  brought  to  Stockholm  to 
spend  the  winter  in  the  hope  that  he  would  marry 
one  of  them. 

But  Charles  did  not  marry  either  of  them. 
In  fact  he  was  never  really  in  love  with  anybody 
or  with  anything  but  war. 

One  day,  when  he  was  out  on  a  bear  hunt, 
news  was  brought  to  him  that  the  kings  of  Den- 
mark and  Poland,  and  Peter  the  Great  of  Russia, 
had  formed  a  combination  against  him,  and  pro- 
posed to  capture  Sweden  and  divide  it  among 
themselves. 

He  gathered  an  army,  placed  himself  at  its 
head,  sailed  for  Denmark  and  soon  forced  the 
Danes  to  sue  for  peace. 

He  then  marched  against  the  Russians.  The 
Russians  were  five  times  as  many  as  the  Swedes, 
but  Charles  said,  ''With  my  brave  boys  in  blue 
behind  me  I  am  afraid  of  nothing." 

On  the  march  four  hundred  Swedes  had  been 
attacked  by  six  thousand  Russians;  but  the 
Swedes  had  beaten  them  off.  Peter  the  Great 
and  his  men  ran  away  as  soon  as  the  Swedes 
approached. 

But  Charles  followed  them  and  a  great  battle 
was   fought  in   a   driving  snow  storm.     Charles 


CHARLES  XII  235 

lost  one  of  his  boots  in  a  bog,  and  a  bullet  was 
flattened  against  his  clothing;  but  by  nightfall 
the  Swedes  had  won  a  complete  victory.  Charles 
was  then  only  eighteen  years  of  age. 

The  next  summer  the  young  warrior  marched 
against  the  united  armies  of  Russia  and  Poland. 
After  a  fight  which  lasted  all  day  Charles  was 
again  victorious. 

Among  the  ladies  of  Poland  was  the  beautiful 
Marie  Aurora.  She  wrote  a  letter  to  Charles 
asking  that  she  might  see  him,  in  the  hope  of 
ending  the  war;   but  Charles  made  no  reply. 

Then  Aurora  traveled  to  the  Swedish  camp, 
although  it  was  the  depth  of  winter;  but  the 
king  refused  to  see  her. 

The  lady,  however,  was  not  discouraged.  One 
day  she  saw  him  riding  toward  her,  and  at  once 
got  out  of  her  carriage  and  knelt  before  him  in 
the  muddy  road.  Charles  raised  his  hat  and 
made  a  low  bow;  but,  without  stopping,  he 
put  spurs  to  his  horse  and  went  off  at  a  gallop. 
In  about  three  weeks  both  the  capitals  of 
Poland — Warsaw  and  Cracow — were  in  his 
hands. 

Charles  at  once  found  work  for  his  army  else- 
where. Saxony  which  then  belonged  to  his  great 
enemy    Augustus    was     invaded    and    captured; 


236  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

and  Charles  remained  in  possession  of  it  for  more 
than  a  year. 

While  Charles  was  busy  with  Saxony,  Peter 
the  Great  attacked  his  provinces  on  the  Baltic. 
He  took  possession  of  the  principal  ports,  and 
founded  on  Swedish  territory  his  new  capital, 
St.   Petersburg. 

In  the  defense  of  his  territories,  Charles  en- 
gaged in  several  fierce  battles  with  the  Russians 
and  finally  defeated  them. 

The  Russians  retreated  and  burned  all  the 
bridges    behind    them. 

He  next  determined  to  go  to  the  succor  of  the 
Cossacks  of  the  Ukraine.  It  was  December.  The 
cold  was  so  intense  that  the  Baltic  Sea  was  frozen 
over,  and  many  of  the  birds  fell  dead  from  the 
trees.  The  Swedes  were  poorly  clothed,  and 
they  suffered  greatly  from  the  cold.  Over  three 
thousand  were  frozen  to  death,  and  many  others 
were  frost-bitten. 

Charles  had  lost  twenty  thousand  out  of  an 
army  of  forty-one  thousand.  Yet  he  would 
not  give  up  the  struggle,  but  determined  to  lay 
siege  to  the  fortress  of  Poltava. 

Up  to  this  time  Charles  had  seemed  to  bear  a 
charmed  life.  But  one  day  a  bullet  struck  his 
foot.     Some    of    the    small    bones    were    broken. 


CHARLES  XII  237 

and  the  flesh  had  to  be  cut  open  to  remove  the 
sphnters.  Charles  watched  the  operation  with- 
out flinching;  but  the  wound  gave  him  trouble, 
and  he  had  to  be  carried  about  in  a  litter,  as 
we  have  read  in  the  story  of  Peter  the  Great. 

The  "boys  in  blue"  did  wonders,  but  the  strug- 
gle was  really  hopeless.  The}^  were  utterly  de- 
feated, and  Charles  barely  escaped  with  his  Hfe. 

He  at  length  crossed  the  River  Dnieper  with 
the  remnant  of  his  army  and  took  refuge  with 
the  Turks;  and  in  the  Turkish  town  of  Bender, 
seven  hundred  miles  from  Sweden,  he  lived  for 
several  years. 

The  sultan  of  Turkey  treated  him  kindly,  and 
in  Bender,  Charles  l)uilt  for  himself  a  stone  house 
with  walls  like  those  of  a  fort. 

The  sultan  also  gave  him  a  body  guard  of 
janissaries.  These  men  became  very  fond  of 
him  and  when  they  found  what  a  strong  will  he 
had,  they  called  him  "Iron  Head."  Some  of 
them  said,  "If  Allah  (God)  would  only  give  us 
such  a  ruler  we  could  conquer  the  world."    y 

Peter  the  Great  had  seized  certain  Turkish 
ports  on  the  Black  Sea,  as  well  as  the  Swedish 
ports  of  the  Baltic.  So  Charles  proposed  to  the 
sultan  that  the  Turks  and  Swedes  should  unite 
their  forces  against  Uussia.     To  this  the   sultan 


238  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

agreed  and,  in  1710,  war  was  declared  and  an 
army  of  two  hundred  thousand  men  marched 
against  the  Russians. 

Peter  had  only  about  forty  thousand,  and  he 
was  very  anxious  for  peace.  He  sent  a  wagon- 
load  of  money  to  the  Turkish  commander  and 
persuaded  him  to  sign  a  treaty. 

Charles  was  not  with  the  Turkish  army  when 
this  was  done;  but  he  arrived  immediately 
afterwards.  He  was  terribly  disappointed,  and 
more  so  when  the  sultan  wrote  him  a  letter  ad- 
vising him  to  return  to  Sweden. 

Charles  refused  to  go.  This  made  the  sultan 
angry;  and  he  sent  orders  to  seize  Charles  and 
take  him,  alive  or  dead,  away  from  Bender. 

Charles  sent  word  back  that  if  they  attempted 
to  do  this  he  would  fight;  and  so  an  attack  was 
made  upon  him  in  the  house  which  he  had  built 
as  a  defense. 

Some  of  the  Turkish  soldiers  refused  to  fight 
against  him,  and  thirty  of  them  were  drowned 
in  the  River  Dnieper  by  the  sultan's  orders. 

Fifty  of  the  soldiers  who  were  friendly  to  him 
tried  to  persuade  Charles  to  put  himself  into 
their  hands;  and  when  they  failed  they 
said,  ''Oh,  Iron  Head!  Allah  has  made  thee 
mad!" 


CIIAKLES    XII     DEFENDS     HIS     HOUSE    AGAINST    THE    XLUKS 


240  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Twelve  thousand  Turks  then  attacked  Charles 
in  his  quarters.  He  fought  bravely  for  his  life, 
but  was  finally  captured  and  turned  over  to  the 
Turkish  commander. 

He  looked  very  unlike  a  king.  His  clothes  were 
torn  to  rags,  and  his  face  was  so  blackened  with 
powder  and  smeared  with  blood  that  he  could 
scarcely  be  recognized. 

When  the  people  in  Sweden  heard  of  his  cap- 
ture some  were  greatly  deUghted  at  the  king's 
bravery;  but  the  wisest  men  of  the  kingdom  felt 
grieved;  and,  all  over  Europe,  it  was  said  that 
Charles  had  gone  mad. 

Some  of  the  people  in  Sweden  now  said  that  un- 
less Charles  returned  to  Sweden  they  must  have 
another  ruler ;  and  a  letter  was  sent  to  him  implor- 
ing him  to  come  home. 

This  caused  him  at  last  to  leave  Turkey ;  and  at 
midnight,  of  November  11,  1714,  he  entered  the 
fortified  town  of  Stralsund,  which  belonged  to 
Sweden.  His  people  were  overjoyed  at  his  return, 
but  were  disappointed  that  he  did  not  cross  the 
Baltic  and  come  into  Sweden  itself. 

The  neighboring  powers  were  glad  to  have  him 
stay  in  Stralsund.  Six  of  them — Russia,  Prus- 
sia, Poland,  Saxony,  Denmark  and  Hanover — had 
declared  war  against  Sweden;  and  they  thought 


CHARLES  XII  241 

they  could  capture  King  Charles  quite  easily  while 
he  was  in  Stralsund. 

They  besieged  the  town;  but  Charles  defended 
it  bravely.  To  encourage  his  men  he  went  to 
the  most  dangerous  places.  He  even  took  his 
meals  within  range  of  the  enemy's  guns.  He 
slept  on  the  ground  with  a  stone  for  his  pillow; 
and  shared  all  the  hardships  of  the  siege  equally 
with  the  common  soldiers. 

But,  in  spite  of  all  his  bravery,  Charles  saw 
that  Stralsund  must  surrender.  He  therefore 
crossed  the  Baltic  in  a  boat  and  made  his  home 
in  the  city  of  Lund,  in  Sweden.  Poor  Sweden 
was  almost  ruined;  and  its  future  looked  very 
dark  indeed.  It  seemed  as  though  Charles  could 
not  see  in  what  a  wretched  state  his  kingdom 
was.  Everybody  else  knew  that  Sweden  must 
have  peace;  for  she  had  lost  in  battle  or  by 
disease  almost  one  fourth  of  all  her  men. 

Most  of  the  fisheries  were  abandoned,  because 
the  fishermen  had  been  taken  to  man  the  fleet. 
A  large  part  of  the  farms  were  cultivated  by 
women  and  boys.  There  was  a  great  scarcity 
of  meat,  butter,  and  tallow;  and  as  tallow  was 
used  for  making  candles,  the  people  were  unable 
to  work  in  the  mornings  or  evenings,  because  no 
candles  could  be  bought. 

HAAKEN-M.    T.-16 


242  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

The  king  shared  the  poverty  of  his  people. 
There  was  no  silver  on  his  table.  All  his  dishes 
were  of  pewter.  He  slept  on  a  straw  mattress 
with  his  cloak  spread  over  him. 

His  passion  for  war  was  as  strong  as  ever;  and 
finally  he  determined  to  invade  Norway,  which 
then   belonged    to   Denmark. 

He  attacked  the  Norwegian  fortress  called 
Fredericksten.  Trenches  were  dug  within  gun- 
shot of  the  fortress.  One  morning  as  he  was 
looking  over  the  top  of  one  of  the  trenches,  he 
was  struck  by  a  bullet  and  instantly  killed. 

Charles  was  a  brave  man,  but  he  was  not  a 
good  ruler.  He  had  a  great  fondness  for  fight- 
ing, and  a  strange  power  of  making  others  fond 
of  it.  His  people  loved  him;  and  they  continue 
to  honor  him.  He  brought  his  country  to  the 
verge  of  ruin.  More  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  men  perished  in  his  wars;  and 
he  left  Sweden  poorer  both  in  territory  and  in 
wealth  than  it  was  when  his  reign  began. 


FREDERICK  THE   GREAT 

1712—1786 

In  the  year  1730  all  Europe  was  startled  with 
strange  news.  Tidings  went  from  kingdom  to 
kingdom  that  the  crowTi  prince  of  Prussia  had 
been  condemned  to  death  by  a  court  martial  on 
a  charge  brought  by  his  father  the  king. 

When  the  news  reached  Vienna,  the  emperor 
of  Austria  sent  word  to  the  Prussian  king  beg- 
ging him  not  to  allow  his  son  to  be  executed, 
and  the  kings  of  Poland  and  Sweden  made  the 
same  request. 

The  young  man  was  charged  with  being  a  de- 
serter from  the  Prussian  army.  He  belonged  to 
a  famous  regiment  called  the  "Potsdam  Guard," 
of  which  his  father  was  very  proud. 

His  father  was  a  hard,  harsh  man.    The  one 
thing  that  he  loved  to  do  was  to  save  money — 
the  one  thing  that  he  disliked  to  do  was  to  spend 
it. 

Frederick  had  been  made  to  study  hard  when 
he  was  only  seven  years  old.  His  father's  rule 
was  that  he  should  get  up  at  six  in  the  morning, 
not  staying  in  bed  one  minute  after  he  was  called. 


(244 


Camphausen 


FREDERICK     THE    GREAT 


FREDERICK  THE   GREAT  245 

On  Saturday  morning  he  was  examined  on 
the  lessons  learned  during  the  week,  and  if  he 
passed  a  good  examination,  the  afternoon  was 
given  him  as  a  half  holiday;  if  the  examination 
was  not  good,  he  had  to  stay  in  and  study. 

Then  besides  studying  he  was  obliged  before 
he  was  twelve  years  old  to  drill  as  a  soldier.  But 
young  Frederick  was  not  so  fond  of  playing  soldier 
as  most  boys  are. 

You  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  the 
crown  prince  was  not  very  fond  of  his  father, 
and  the  king  seems  to  have  really  hated  the 
prince.  Once  it  is  said  that  he  tried  to  strangle 
him  to  death  with  the  cord  of  a  curtain. 

The  prince  at  length  made  up  his  mind  that 
he  would  run  away  from  his  father's  palace 
and  go  to  stay  with  his  uncle,  George  II,  who 
was  king  of  England.  But  his  father  discovered 
his  plan  and   thwarted  it. 

Then  came  the  court  martial.  The  prince 
was  found  guilty  of  deserting  his  regiment,  and 
was  sentenced  to  death.  He  would  have  been 
executed  had  not  the  emperor  of  Austria  and 
the  kings  of  Poland  and  Sweden  said  so  much 
against  it. 

A  few  days  later  tlic  jjrince  signed  a  ijromise 
to  submit  to  his  father.     He  was  then  released 


246  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

from  prison  and  watched  very  carefully.  As 
he  now  behaved  himself  to  suit  the  crusty  old 
king,  he  was  made  colonel  of  the  Potsdam  Guard. 

Not  long  after  this  his  father  had  a  serious 
sickness,  and  was  never  quite  strong  again  as 
long  as  he  lived.  He  became  softened  and  af- 
fectionate toward  his  son,  and  before  his  death 
he  saw  what  a  mistake  he  had  made  in  thinking 
so  little  of  him. 

Frederick  II  began  his  reign  on  May  31,  1740. 
The  next  day  he  made  this  promise  to  the  people, 
'^Our  great  care  shall  be  to  make  every  one  of 
our  subjects  contented  and  happy." 

He  began  well.  Some  time  before  his  father's 
death,  the  crops  in  Prussia  had  failed,  and  a 
famine  prevailed;  but  the  miserly  old  king  was 
afraid  of  being  cheated  and  would  not  sell  to  the 
people  the  wheat  which  belonged  to  the  crown. 
Frederick  II  at  once  sold  the  grain  to  all  who> 
needed  it,  and  ordered  that  a  thousand  poor 
women  should  be  comfortably  fed  and  clothed  at 
his  own  expense. 

He  altered  his  manner  of  living.  He  made 
a  great  change  in  the  army,  enlarged  it  to  the 
number  of  one  hundred  thousand,  and,  very 
early  in  his  reign,  he  went  to  war. 

His    reason    for    fighting   was    this.     About    a 


c-y;, 


THE   JUSTICE    OF    FREUEUICK    (aLLECOIUCAL) 


248  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

hundred  years  before  he  was  born  one  of  his 
ancestors  made  an  agreement  with  the  duke  of  a 
province  called  Silesia,  that  if  either  of  them 
should  die  without  an  heir,  his  territory  should 
go  to  the  other. 

This  agreement  was  duly  written  on  parchment 
and  signed  and  sealed.  The  Duke  of  Silesia  died 
leaving  no  heir.  So,  by  the  agreement,  Silesia 
ought  to  have  become  part  of  Prussia.  How- 
ever, the  archduke  of  Austria  took  possession 
of  it.  It  had  been  a  part  of  Austria  so  long  that 
most  people  seemed  to  have  forgotten  that  Prussia 
had  a  claim  to  it. 

Frederick  II  did  not  forget;  and  soon  after  he 
came  to  the  throne  he  wrote  to  Maria  Theresa, 
the  archduchess  of  Austria,  and  made  the  claim 
that  Silesia  was  part  of  his  dominions.  He 
offered  to  pay  a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  prov- 
ince, though  he  said  it  was  his;  but  Maria  re- 
fused to  give  it  or  sell  it. 

Frederick  without  loss  of  time  marched  with 
a  large  army  into  the  country.  Breslau,  the 
capital  of  Silesia,  opened  its  gates  to  him  with- 
out resistance,  and  most  of  the  other  towns 
followed  its  example. 

Maria  Theresa  sent  a  large  army  into  the  field, 
and  Frederick's  first  battle  was  fought.     It  took 


FREDERICK  THE   GREAT  249 

place  near  a  town  called  ^lollwitz.  This  battle 
is  famous  not  because  of  the  number  of  men 
who  were  killed  and  wounded,  but  because  King 
Frederick  himself  fled  from  the  field.  After  his 
flight  the  tide  turned,  and  his  troops  gained  the 
victory. 

JMaria  Theresa  was  greatly  alarmed.  But  she 
did  a  very  wise  thing.  She  was  queen  of  Hun- 
gary as  well  as  archduchess  of  Austria.  She 
knew  that  the  Hungarians  were  great  fighters. 
So  she  invited  the  nobles  of  Hungary  to  meet 
her,  and  said  to  them,  ''You  are  my  only  allies, 
and  I  throw  myself  on  your  generosity."  These 
words  went  to  their  hearts  and  they  voted  that 
all  Hungary  should  arm  and  fight  for  her. 

But  her  troo})s  were  again  badly  defeated 
and  she  was  forced  to  surrender  nearly  all  of 
Silesia  to  Frederick.  In  twenty  months  Fred- 
erick thus  won  for  Prussia  a  territory  larger 
than  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode 
Island  put  together. 

And  really  it  was  a  fortunate  thing  for  the 
Silesians  that  they  became  Prussians.  The  prov- 
ince was  soon  tai-  nioic  productive  and  pros- 
perous than  it  had  c\(m-  been,  and  tlic  people 
were  a  great  deal  hai)picr. 

When  peace  came,   Frederick  was  as  busy  at 


250  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN   TIMES 

home  as  on  the  field  of  battle.  To  do  what  he 
thought  a  king  ought  to  do,  he  found  that  his 
day  must  contain  a  great  many  hours.  So  he 
gave  orders  that  a  servant  should  awaken  him 
at  four  o'clock. 

On  several  mornings  he  dropped  asleep  again 
after  being  called.  So  he  ordered  the  servant 
to  mop  his  face  at  four  o'clock  with  a  cold  wet 
towel.  This  made  him  wide  awake,  and  through 
his  life,  four  was  his  hour  for  rising.  He  went 
to  bed  about  nine  or  ten;  so  he  hardly  ever  had 
more  than  six  hours  sleep. 

Maria  Theresa  kept  him  busy,  for  she  did  not 
rest  content  with  the  loss  of  Silesia.  Frederick 
had  reason  to  suppose  that  she  was  going  to  try 
to  regain  the  lost  province;  so  he  immediately 
invaded  her  territories.  He  gained  four  victories, 
and  thus  secured  Silesia  a  second  time. 

After  Frederick  had  conquered  her  in  the 
second  Silesian  War,  she  found  Russia,  France, 
Sweden,  and  Saxony  ready  to  fight  against  him. 

Maria  Theresa  and  her  new  friends  agreed  that 
they  would  destroy  Frederick's  army,  get  posses- 
sion of  Prussia,  and  divide  it  among  themselves. 

But  Frederick  took  his  enemies  by  surprise. 
On  August  24, 1756,  he  invaded  Saxony,  and  thus 
began  what  is  known  as  the  Seven  Years'  War. 


252  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

At  the  \^ery  l:)eginniiig  he  was  successful  and 
forced  the  whole  Saxon  army  to  surrender. 
After  this,  however,  his  good  fortune  left  him. 
The  Austrians  gained  a  great  victory  over  him 
at  a  place  called  Kolin  (ko  len') ;  and  in  about 
three  years  from  the  beginning  of  the  war  the 
allies  had  really  almost  ruined  him. 

Another  great  battle  was  fought  with  the 
Austrians  and  Prussians  at  a  place  called  Kuners- 
dorf  (koo'  ners  dorf).  When  Frederick  saw  that 
this  battle  also  was  likely  to  be  lost,  he  led  the 
attack  three  times  himself.  Three  horses  were 
killed  under  him.  A  bullet  struck  a  small  metal 
box  in  his  vest  pocket  and  was  flattened.  Had 
it  not  been  for  the  box  he  must  have  been  killed. 

All  his  efforts,  however,  were  in  vain.  The 
defeat  was  terrible,  and  Frederick  was  in  despair. 
He  WTote  to  a  friend,  ''All  is  lost.  I  will  not 
survive  the  ruin  of  the  Fatherland.  Adieu  for- 
ever." It  is  said  at  this  time  he  kept  in  his 
pocket  some  Httle  pills  of  poison  ready  to  take, 
if  all  seemed  hopeless. 

Then  a  piece  of  good  luck  happened.  The 
Russians  expected  the  Austrians  to  feed  their 
army  because  it  was  fighting  for  them;  but,  in- 
stead of  sending  flour,  the  Austrians  sent  money. 
The  Russian  general  said  that  his  men  could  not 


FREDERICK  THE   GREAT  253 

eat  silver;  and  as  winter  was  approaching,  he 
marched  home  to  Russia. 

The  campaign  of  the  year  now  closing,  1759, 
the  year  so  famous  in  America  for  the  conquest 
of  Canada  by  the  English — had  been  most  un- 
fortunate for  Frederick.  He  had  lost  six  thou- 
sand men,  and  Prussia  was  nearly  exhausted 
both  of  men  and  of  money. 

But  the  king  was  wonderfully  brave,  and  he 
inspired  all  Prussia  with  courage  and  hope.  Be- 
sides, he  gained  some  victories.  One  night  when 
he  was  sitting  half  asleep  by  one  of  his  watch 
fires,  a  horseman  galloped  into  camp,  exclaim- 
ing, "Where  is  the  king?" 

"Here!"  answered  Frederick. 

The  rider  hurriedly  said,  "The  enemy  has 
driven  in  our  outposts  and  is  not  five  hundred 
yards  from  our  left  wing." 

Instantly  Frederick  gave  his  orders,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  ten  cannons  were  pouring  shot  into 
the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  The  attack  of  the 
Austrians  was  terrible;  but  the  Prussians  stood 
their  ground  heroically,  and  the  Austrians  were 
driven  back.  They  lost  ten  thousand  men,  the 
Prussians  only  eighteen  hundred. 

The  tide  had  turned,  and  another  great  battle 
gained  at  Torgau  (tor'gou)  left  Frederick  a  third 


254  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

time  master  of  Silesia  When  a  treaty  was  made, 
Maria  Theresa  was  obliged  to  give  up  the  prov- 
ince forever. 

Prussia  at  the  beginning  of  Frederick's  reign 
had  been  small  and  insignificant.  At  the  end 
of  the  Seven  Years'  War  she  was  one  of  the 
Great  Powers  of  Europe. 

Frederick  was  as  great  in  peace  as  in  war. 
He  lent  money  to  those  in  need.  He  furnished 
seed  to  the  farmers.  He  called  himself  ''the 
chief  servant  of  the  state,"  and  really  worked 
like  a  slave  for  the  good  of  his  people.  It  is  said 
that  in  seven  years  the  country  was  as  pros- 
perous as  ever. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  and  one  of  the 
saddest  things  ever  done  in  Europe  was  what 
is  called  the  ''Partition  of  Poland."  Russia, 
Austria,  and  Prussia  determined  to  cut  up  the 
little  kingdom  and  divide  it  among  themselves. 

Yet  Prussia's  share  of  Poland  was  much  bene- 
fited by  being  brought  under  the  government 
of  Frederick.  When  he  took  charge  of  it  the 
people  were  in  a  wretched  condition.  Frederick 
soon  changed  all  this  and  the  country  became 
prosperous  and  its  inhabitants  comfortable. 

To  the  last  he  was  a  rigid  discipHnarian ;  he 
was  as  severe  upon  himself  as  upon  others.     In 


FREDERICK  THE  GREAT  255 

August,  1786,  he  ordered  the  army  to  go  through 
a  number  of  sham  fights.  While  witnessing 
one  of  these  he  caught  a  chill  which  brought  on 
an  illness  from  which  he  never  recovered. 

At  about  twelve  o'clock  on  the  night  of  his 
death,  one  of  his  dogs  which  was  sitting  near 
him  was  shivering  with  cold,  and  Frederick  said 
''Throw  a  quilt  over  him."  These  were  the 
last  words  which  he  spoke,  and  at  half  past  two 
he  was  dead. 


WILLIAM  PITT 

1708—1778 

While  Frederick  the  Great  was  making  Prussia 
a  prominent  European  power,  the  elder  William 
Pitt,  first  Earl  of  Chatham,  was  making  England 
great. 

He  held  the  office  of  prime  minister  only  once, 
and  that  for  not  more  than  two  years;  but  his 
wisdom  and  uprightness  gave  him  such  influence 
that  he  was  the  real  ruler  of  the  country  for  many 
years. 

He  was  born  in  1708,  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  England,  his  father  being  a  country 
gentleman  of  prominent  family  and  considerable 
wealth. 

The  childhood  of  the  future  statesman  was 
passed  amid  rural  scenes  and  pleasures.  As  a 
boy  he  was  remarkably  fond  of  books;  and  by 
his  careful  attention  to  study  he  gratified  both 
his  parents  and  his  teachers. 

He  was  also  a  lover  of  sports  and  games.  This, 
however,  did  not  prevent  his  suffering,  even  dur- 
ing his  school  days,  from  attack  of  gout,  a  disease 
which  he  inherited. 


li'iniHon 


WILLIAM     I'lTT 


HAAKEN-M  T  17 


258  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

When  he  entered  Trinity  College,  Oxford,  few 
students  of  his  age  were  so  well-read.  But 
owing  to  his  lack  of  robust  health  he  was  obliged 
to  leave  the  university,  without  taking  his  degree. 
Going  to  the  continent,  he  spent  two  years  in 
travel  and  study  in  France  and  Italy.  He  then 
returned  to  England,  and  secured  an  officer's 
commission  in  a  regiment  of  dragoons. 

He  soon  discovered  that  he  had  made  a  mis- 
take in  choosing  the  army  as  a  profession.  He 
saw  that  his  best  work  could  be  done  in  public 
Hfe. 

The  young  officer  immediately  began  to  take 
steps  to  secure  a  public  position.  Fortunately, 
the  right  of  representing  the  borough  of  Old 
Sarum  belonged  to  his  family,  and  thus  he  was 
enabled  to  become  a  member  of  Parliament. 

His  speeches  in  the  House  of  Commons  were 
forcible  and  at  times  very  eloquent.  One  day 
he  spoke  against  a  measure  proposed  by  Horace 
Walpole,  then  prime  minister  of  England.  Wal- 
pole  was  so  offended  at  the  strong  language  of 
Pitt  that  he  had  the  latter  dismissed  from  the 
army,  with  which  he  had  not  as  yet  severed  his 
connection. 

"Now  I  shall  turn  my  energies  wholly  to 
poUtics,"  Pitt  said  to  his  friends.     "I  am  really 


WILLIAM  PITT  259 

glad  Walpole  has  pre^'ented  my  remaining  in  the 
army.    I  am  not  in  anyway  fitted  to  be  a  soldier." 

From  the  time  that  Pitt  entered  Parliament 
to  the  last  day  of  his  life  he  was  devoted  to  public 
affairs.  He  quickl}'  showed  that  he  had  great 
genius  for  political  management. 

There  was  no  orator  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons whose  speeches  commanded  so  much  at- 
tention. But  the  source  of  his  power  was  no 
mystery.  It  was  the  simple  fact  that  he  in- 
variably advocated  measures  which  he  believed 
to  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  people. 

After  some  experience  in  political  life  he  was 
chosen  a  member  of  the  Cabinet,  and  though 
he  was  not  nominally  prime  minister,  he  was 
really  at  the  head  of  the  government.  Nearly 
all  its  important  measures  were  suggested  by 
him. 

He  ventured,  on  one  occasion,  to  oppose  the 
wishes  of  King  George  II,  and  consecjuently  was 
o])liged  to  resign  his  position.  But  the  king 
found  it  impossible  to  carry  on  the  government 
without  him.  The  people  demanded  that  he 
should  rctuiii  to  office,  and  within  a  few  months 
he  was  recalled. 

The  condition  of  England  at  this  time  was  one 
of  feebleness.     Pitt  jMit  the  army  and  navy  into 


260  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

such  a  condition  that  during  the  famous  '^ Seven 
Years'  War"  in  which  England,  as  the  ally  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  was  at  war  with  France, 
the  latter  country  was  forced  to  cede  to  England 
most  valuable  possessions  both  in  America  and 
India. 

Pitt  inspired  England  with  national  enthusiasm, 
it  was  during  the  years  1756-1761  that  he  had 
the  fullest  opportunity  to  show  his  surpassing 
qualities.  His  wise  choice  of  men  Hke  Wolfe 
in  Canada  and  Clive  in  India,  and  his  vigorous 
measures  in  the  management  of  foreign  affairs, 
made  England  respected  in  every  part  of  the 
world. 

The  people  called  him  the  '^ great  commoner," 
because,  up  to  this  time,  he  was  without  a  title 
of  nobility.  Never  before  had  so  great  a  leader 
of  pubhc  affairs  appeared  in  England. 

The  young  king  was  obstinate.  He  was  de- 
termined to  be  "si  real  king,"  as  he  said.  So 
one  day  when  Pitt  advised  that  war  should  be 
declared  against  Spain,  which  had  made  an 
alliance  with  France,  the  great  enemy  of  England, 
the  king  and  his  council  refused  to  agree  to  such 
a  war.  Pitt  then  decided  to  give  up  his  office 
and  have  nothing  further  to  do  with  the  manage- 
ment of  the  government. 


WILLIAM  PITT  261 

The  king  received  his  resignation  calmly,  and 
made  no  request  to  Pitt  to  remain  in  office; 
nevertheless,  he  granted  him  a  pension  of  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  a  year. 

After  his  retirement  from  office,  Pitt  remained 
in  the  House  of  Commons;  and  was,  as  he  had 
so  long  been,  its  foremost  member.  His  elo- 
quent voice  was  constantly  heard  in  the  debates, 
and  his  word  had  influence  not  only  with  Parlia- 
ment, but  with  the  whole  nation. 

T\N'ice  he  was  urged  to  take  part  in  the  govern- 
ment but  refused.  At  last,  in  1766,  King  George 
in\'ited  him  to  choose  a  ministry  to  suit  him- 
self, and  Pitt  accepted  the  invitation. 

In  the  new  ministry  he  selected  for  himself 
the  office  of  Privy  Seal,  with  a  seat  in  the  House 
of  Lords  as  Viscount  Pitt  and  Earl  of  Chatham. 
His  acceptance  of  a  title  lost  him  at  first  con- 
siderable popularity;  but  his  continued  devotion 
to  the  people's  interests,  even  as  a  member  of 
the  nobility,  eventually  restored  public  con- 
fidence. 

He  ceased  to  be  prime  minister  in  1768  and 
was  succeeded  in  that  office  by  Lord  North. 

Like  Burke,  he  denounced  in  the  most  fearless 
manner  the  arbitrary  and  unjust  measures  of 
the  government  of  Lord  Xorlli  lowmd  the  Ameri- 


(262) 


WILLIAM  PITT  263 

can  colonies.  He  insisted  that  the  colonists 
were  entitled  to  all  the  rights  of  British  subjects; 
and  urged  in  the  warmest  way  that  the  diffi- 
culties between  them  and  the  government  should 
be  amicably  settled. 

The  name  of  Pittsburg,  in  Pennsylvania,  was 
gi\'cn  by  his  American  admirers  to  commemorate 
his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  rights  of  his  colonial 
fellow  citizens. 

When  he  died,  in  May  1778,  the  entire  English 
nation,  in  the  colonies  as  well  as  at  home,  mourned 
with  genuine  grief.  He  had  been  a  patriot  and 
a  statesman — not  a  mere  politician. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON 
1732—1799 

George  Washington,  familiarly  known  as  the 
Father  of  his  Country,  was  born  on  a  plantation 
in  Virginia  called  Bridge's  Creek,  on  February 
22,  1732. 

When  he  was  three  years  old  the  house  in 
which  he  was  born  was  burned  down,  and  the 
family  moved  to  another  plantation  on  the  Rap- 
pahannock,   opposite    Fredericksburg. 

He  was  the  eldest  of  five  children,  although 
he  had  a  half-brother  named  Lawrence,  who 
was  fifteen  years  older  than  himself. 

His  father  died  when  he  was  but  eleven  years 
of  age.  But  his  mother,  who  was  a  strong  and 
healthy  woman,  took  up  her  burden  bravely 
and  brought  up  her  family  with  great  care. 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  Washington  got 
his  manly  qualities  from  his  mother.  In  features 
and  in  mental  characteristics  he  resembled  her 
very  closely. 

After  the  death  of  George's  father  one  of  his 
estates  called  Mount  Vernon,  on  the  Potomac 
River,    was   inherited   by   Lawrence. 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON 


265 


Lawrence  Washington  was  fond  of  George, 
and  often  invited  him  to  spend  his  hoUdays  at 
Mount  Vernon. 

An  English  nobleman,  named  Lord  Fairfax, 
lived    near    Mount    ^>rnon,    and    often    visited 


^^^'  "^*^, 


WASHINGTON     AS     A     SURVEYOR 


Lawrence  Washington.  Li  this  way  he  became 
ac(juainted  with  Geoigo.  Lord  Fairfax  owned 
an  immense  tract  of  wild  forest  land  in  Virginia. 
He  had  never  seen  il  himself,  and  few  white  men 
had  evci-  been  on  it.  Lord  Fairfax  was  an  old 
gentleman,  but  he  took  a  great  liking  to  George 
Washington.     When    he    found    that    the    voung 


266  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

man   understood   surveying  he   engaged   him   to 
survey  these  lands. 

When  only  sixteen  George  entered  upon  his 
task.  This  was  quite  an  undertaking  for  one  so 
young.  But  in  three  years  the  survey  was  fin- 
ished; and  it  was  so  well  done  that  it  stands  to 
this  day. 

Lawrence  Washington  died  in  1752,  and  in 
his  will  he  made  George  guardian  to  his  daughter 
and  heir  to  Mount  Vernon  in  case  of  her  death. 

George  had  now  grown  to  manhood.  He  was 
wonderfully  strong  and  athletic  and  could  out- 
run, outleap  and  outride  all  the  young  men  of 
his  acquaintance. 

So  fully  did  he  command  the  confidence  of 
those  who  knew  him  that  he  was  appointed  to 
positions  of  great  trust  and  responsibiUty. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  was  made  colonel 
and  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  forces  raised 
in  Virginia  for  the  defense  of  the  Western  Ter- 
ritory against  the  French. 

In  this  French  War,  as  it  was  called,  he  received 
a  splendid  training,  not  only  in  success  but  in 
failure,  and  confidence  in  him  was  greatly  in- 
creased when  men  saw  how  these  failures  and 
defeats  raised  his  unconquerable  spirit. 

In  a  second  expedition  Washington  was  again 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  267 

placed  in  command  of  the  American  troops. 
The  French  had  built  a  fort  at  the  point  where 
the  Allegheny  and  Monongahela  Rivers  join  and 
form  the  Ohio,  which  they  called  Fort  Duquesne. 

Washington  decided  to  capture  this  fort;  but 
the  French  garrison  were  afraid  to  risk  a  battle; 
so  they  burned  the  fort  and  marched  away  into 
Canada. 

When  Washington  and  his  men  arrived  they 
found  nothing  but  smoking  ruins;  but  they  took 
possession  of  the  place  in  the  name  of  King 
George. 

Some  time  afterward,  the  Enghsh  won  a  great 
victory  over  the  French  at  Quebec.  This  gave 
them  all  French  America  from  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  the  Great  Lakes  as  far  west  as  the  Mississippi, 
and  south  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  At  the  end  of 
the  war,  Washington  returned  to  Mount  Vernon. 

In  May,  1758,  Washington  was  called  to  Wil- 
liamsburg to  confer  with  the  governor  in  regard 
to  the  condition  of  the  Virginia  troops.  He 
traveled  there  on  horseback,  accompanied  by 
his  servant;  and  one  day  he  stopped  for  dinner 
at  the  mansion  of  a  hospitable  planter. 

There  he  was  introduced  to  a  lovely  young 
widow,  Mrs.  Martha  Custis.  Iler  manners  and 
conversation   were   so   pleasing    to   him    that   he 


268  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN    TIMES 

spent  the  afternoon  and  evening  in  her  company; 
and  the  next  morning  he  rode  away  a  captive 
to  her  charms. 

George  Washington  and  Martha  Custis  were 
married  on  January  6,  1759.  The  union  proved 
to  be  a  very  happy  one.  She  adorned  every 
station  to  which  his  greatness  called  her,  and  he 
was  tenderly  devoted  to  her  till  the  end  of  his  Ufe. 

For  several  years  Washington  lived  the  life 
of  a  country  gentleman.  He  was  very  fond  of 
horses  and  hounds  and  often  went  fox  hunting. 
But  hke  other  people  in  the  American  colonies 
he  was  greatly  troubled  by  the  unjust  way  in 
which  the  English  king  and  his  government 
were  acting. 

The  English  Parliament  ordered  that  a  tax 
should  be  paid  upon  all  the  tea  brought  into 
New  York,  Boston,  and  the  other  ports  of  the 
colonies.  As  the  colonists  had  no  representative 
in  ParUament  they  felt  that  they  ought  not  to  be 
taxed;  and  when  a  shipload  of  tea  arrived  in 
Boston  a  number  of  citizens  went  on  board  the 
vessel  and  threw  the  chests  of  tea  into  the  harbor. 
This  was  called  the  ^^ Boston  Tea  Party." 

Washington  hated  the  tea  tax,  and  he  and  his 
friends  refused  to  buy  any  goods  that  came  from 
England. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  269 

A  number  of  men  from  all  the  colonies  met 
together  in  a  Congress  to  consider  what  should 
be  done.  They  sent  a  letter  to  the  king  of  Eng- 
land l^egging  that  they  might  have  the  same 
rights  as  those  of  his  subjects  who  were  born  in 
England. 

Quite  a  number  of  men  in  the  English 
Parliament  said  that  the  colonists  were  right. 
Among  these  was  William  Pitt,  after  whom  the 
city  of  Pittsburg  was  named.  But  the  Parlia- 
ment was  stubl^orn,  and  the  Americans  found 
that  if  they  were  to  gain  their  rights  they  could 
only  do  so  b}'  fighting  for  them.  So  they  took 
up  arms  and  entered  upon  a  great  struggle  for 
their  liberties. 

The  Congress  of  the  Colonies  raised  an  army, 
and  Washington  was  made  commander-in-chief. 

British  troops  had  already  been  sent  over  to 
fight  against  the  colonists.  As  Washington  was 
riding  from  Mount  \'ernon  to  Cambridge,  Massa- 
chusetts, people  told  him  that  a  battle  had  taken 
place  })etween  the  English  soldiers  and  the  col- 
onial militia. 

His  question  was,  ''Did  the  militia  fight?" 
''Yes!"  was  the  answer.  "Then"  said  Wash- 
ington, "the  lil)erties  of  tlie  country  are  safe." 

On  arriving  at  Canii)ridgc,  Washington  at  once 


(270) 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  271 

assumed  command.  The  British  held  the  cit}^ 
of  Boston,  but  Washington  made  up  his  mind 
to  take  it. 

One  cold  night  in  March  he  fortified  a  hill 
which  commanded  the  city.  From  its  heights 
he  discharged  such  a  shower  of  shot  and  shell 
that  the  British  commander  found  that  Boston 
was  not  a  safe  place  for  him  to  stay  in;  so  he 
took  to  his  ships  and  left  the  city  in  Washing- 
ton's hands. 

This  was  a  great  victory  for  the  colonists  and 
they  were  much  encouraged.  On  the  fourth 
of  July,  1776,  Congress  declared  that  the  colonies 
no  longer  belonged  to  Great  Britain,  but  were 
free  and  independent. 

A  British  fleet  and  army  now  arrived  from 
England  to  capture  New  York.  They  landed 
on  Long  Island,  and  a  battle  was  fought  in  which 
the  Americans  were  badly  defeated. 

The  British  rested  for  a  couple  of  days  after 
the  battle;  and  during  that  time  Washington 
led  the  American  army  across  the  East  River, 
marched  through  New  York,  and  on  through 
Harlem  to  White  Plains.  There  they  dug  trenches, 
threw  up  breastworks,  and  awaited  the  British 
attack. 

The    English    commander    hesitated    to   attack 


(272) 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  273 

them  in  this  strong  position,  and  Washington 
soon  afterward  crossed  the  Hudson  into  New 
Jersey. 

These  were  dark  days  for  all  who  were  fighting 
for  Uberty  and  independence.  On  several  oc- 
casions Washington  saved  his  army  only  by 
rapidly  retreating  from  place  to  place. 

At  Christmas,  1777,  the  main  body  of  the 
British  army  were  in  \Aanter  quarters  at  New 
York,  and  the  towns  of  Princeton  and  Trenton, 
in  New  Jersey,  were  also  held  by  them.  Wash- 
ington determined  to  make  an  advance  move- 
ment against  them. 

He  crossed  the  Delaware  amidst  floating  ice, 
marched  to  Trenton  in  a  driving  storm  of  sleet, 
and  captured  the  town.  He  was  also  successful 
at  Princeton,  and  Frederick  the  Great,  the  most 
famous  soldier  of  Prussia,  declared  that  "Wash- 
ington's victories  at  Trenton  and  Princeton  were 
the  most  splendid  gained  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury." 

He  next  won  a  great  battle  at  Monmouth  in 
New  Jersey,  and  after  that  the  outlook  began 
to  improve. 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  then  in  Paris,  and  he 
persuaded  the  French  government  to  hc^lp  his 
countrymen.     So   a   French    fleet   and    an   army 

HAAKEN-M.T.-18 


(-?4J 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  275 

came  over,  and  rendered  good  service  to  the 
American  cause. 

The  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  a  young  French 
nobleman  had  ah'eady  come  to  this  country  and 
joined  the  colonial  army.  Washington  admired 
him  very  greatly,  and  made  him  a  major  genei'al. 
He  was  a  brave  man  and  a  brilliant  soldier,  and  will 
ever  be  kindly  remembered  by  the  American  people. 

In  1781,  the  main  division  of  the  British  army 
was  at  Yorktown  in  Virginia  under  the  command 
of  Lord  Cornwallis. 

As  soon  as  the  French  allies  arrived,  Wash- 
ington went  to  see  the  commander  of  the  fleet; 
and  it  was  agreed  that  the  French  and  Americans 
should  unite  and  make  an  attack  on  CornwaUis. 
The  French  fleet  sailed  to  Yorktown;  and  the 
French  and  Americans  closing  in  upon  the  town 
by  land,  it  was  soon  besieged  on  all  sides. 

The  British  army  was  so  closely  cooped  up  in 
Yorktown  that  Cornwallis  was  finally  obliged 
to  surrender;  and  this  victory  brought  the  war 
to  an  end. 

Peace  was  made  with  England,  and  Wash- 
ington returned  to  his  Ijcautiful  home  at  Mount 
Vernon.  There  he  would  have  liked  to  spend 
the  rest  of  his  life  in  quiet.  But  the  country  still 
needed   his   help. 


276  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Although  our  country  was  called  the  ''United 
States  of  America"  the  states  were  not  really 
united.  They  had  joined  in  the  war  against 
England  because  all  were  in  the  same  danger. 
But  as  soon  as  the  danger  was  over,  they  began 
to  disagree  among  themselves. 

There  were  thirteen  independent  states.  Each 
of  these  states  had  its  own  governor,  but  there 
was  no  president  over  all. 

There  was  really  no  nation,  and  of  course 
there  was  no  constitution.  Washington  said  there 
must  be  a  union  that  would  keep  the  states  to- 
gether in  peace  as  well  as  in  war. 

Most  of  the  people  felt  as  he  did;  and  so,  in 
1789,  a  constitution  was  drawn  up  and  adopted 
by  the  states. 

This  constitution  provided  that  there  should  be 
a  president  elected  by  the  people  to  be  the  ruler 
of  the  nation;  that  laws  should  be  made  which 
the  people  in  all  the  states  must  obey;  and  that 
these  laws  should  be  made  by  Congress  and  the 
president. 

After  the  constitution  had  been  adopted,  an 
election  was  held,  and  George  Washington,  be- 
ing the  unanimous  choice  of  his  countrymen, 
became  the  first  president  of  the  United  States 
of  America. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  277 

New  York  was  then  the  capital  city  of  the 
country,  and  after  his  election  Washington  went 
to  live  there.  His  journey  from  Mount  Vernon 
to  New  York  was  one  long  triumphal  march. 

Congress  then  held  its  meetings  in  a  hall  in 
Wall  Street;  and  in  front  of  that  hall  he  took 
the  oath  to  serve  the  country  faithfully  and 
to  maintain  the  constitution. 

An  immense  crowd  had  gathered  to  witness 
this  ceremony;  and  as  soon  as  it  was  performed 
they  shouted  ''God  bless  George  Washington, 
president  of  the  United  States."  Bells  pealed 
and  cannons  roared,  and  there  was  great  rejoi- 
cing all  over  the  land. 

So  well  did  Washington  rule  that  when  his 
term  of  office  expired  he  was  again  the  choice 
of  the  people;  and  they  would  have  elected  him 
a  third  time  had  not  he  himself  declined  the  great 
honor. 

He  wTote  ''A  Farewell  Address  to  the  People 
of  the  United  States,"  and  went  back  to  Virginia 
to  live  amid  the  quiet  scenes  of  Mount  Vernon 
and   enjoy   a   well-earned   rest. 

Not  quite  three  years  passed  when,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1799,  he  took  a  severe  cold  as  he  was  riding 
over  his  farm  in  a  storm  of  sleet.  He  failed 
very  rapidly  from  the  first;    and,  two  days  later. 


(J7S) 


Cliappel 


INAUGURATION     OF    WASHINGTON 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  279 

George  Washington,   the  Father  of  his  Country, 
was  dead. 

He  was  buried  at  Mount  Vernon.  The  entire 
nation  sincerely  mourned  the  loss  of  its  founder 
and  friend;  and  the  world  grieved  for  the  death 
of  one  of  its  grandest  heroes. 


ROBESPIERRE 

1758—1794 

A  few  years  after  the  American  Revolution 
had  freed  the  thirteen  colonies  from  the  tyranny 
of  George  III,  the  great  French  Revolution  began. 

This  was  also  a  struggle  against  tyranny,  and 
Americans  can  scarcely  help  sympathizing  with 
the  French  who,  for  many  generations,  had  been 
deprived  of  their  just  rights. 

One  of  the  great  leaders  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion was  Robespierre  (robs  pyar') .  He  was 
born  at  Arras,  in  France,  on  May  6,  1758. 
He  was  left  an  orphan  at  the  age  of  nine,  and 
obtained  his  early  education  in  the  schools  of  his 
native  town  through  the  kindness  of  a  warm- 
hearted bishop  who  had  known  his  father. 

He  afterwards  entered  the  college  of  Louis 
le  Grand  in  Paris.  He  was  a  clever  student, 
and  when  Louis  XVI  entered  Paris,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  reign,  Robespierre  was  chosen  by 
vote  of  his  fellow  students  to  present  him  with 
an  address  of  welcome. 

After  his  graduation,  in  1781,  he  was  called  to 
the  bar;  but  resigned  on  account  of  his  reluct- 
ance   to   pronounce    sentence    of   death.     Never- 


ROBESPIERRE  281 

theless,  it  is  said  that  he  was  cruel  even  as  a 
child,  and  that  he  took  great  pleasure  in  mean 
little  acts  that  would  give  pain  to  others. 

He  appears  to  have  felt,  very  early  in  Hfe,  a 


Carlion  by  Braun,  Clement 
KOBESPIERRE 


great  hatred  for  people  who  were  wealthy  and 
of  high  rank.  As  a  youth,  he  talked  a  great 
deal  about  the  rights  of  the  lower  classes,  and  the 
wrong  doings  of  the  upper  classes;  and  he  de- 
clared that  the  ])f)W('r  of  doing  so  much  wrong 
should  be  taken  away  from  the  king  and  his 
nobles. 


282  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

The  poor  people  of  France  liked  to  hear  such 
talk,  for  they  had  just  reason  to  complain.  Many 
of  them  came  to  look  upon  Robespierre  as  the 
champion  of  their  rights,  and  to  place  much  con- 
fidence in  his  ability  to  help  them. 

The  revolutionists  had  come  to  think  that  the 
only  remedy  for  their  wrongs  was  the  death  of 
King  Louis  XVI;  just  as  in  England  Cromwell 
and  his  friends,  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  earlier, 
had  beheved  that  the  English  people  could  gain 
their  rights  only  by  the  death  of  Charles  I. 

Robespierre  was  determined  that  the  king 
should  be  executed.  He  made  a  speech  in  which 
he  said  that  France  would  be  far  better  off  with- 
out any  king.  He  then  went  on  to  say  that  hap- 
piness and  prosperity  would  return  to  the  country 
if  only  Louis  could  be  removed;  and  that  the 
only  way  to  remove  him  was  to  put  him  to  death. 

Most  of  the  Assembly  thought  that  the  person 
of  a  king  was  sacred;  and  that  if  his  life  was 
taken,  the  curse  of  God  would  rest  upon  those 
who  took  it.  Robespierre  boldly  denied  this; 
and  the  people  were  delighted  with  his  words. 
They  named  him  ''The  Incorruptible;"  and  they 
almost  worshiped  him. 

One  day,  when  he  was  leaving  the  hall  where 
the   meetings  of  the   Assembly   were  held,   they 


ROBESPIERRE  283 

placed  a  crown  of  oak  leaves  upon  his  head,  un- 
harnessed the  horses  from  his  carriage,  and  drew 
him  to  his  home  themselves.  As  they  passed 
along  the  streets,  the}^  cried:  ''Behold  the  friend 
of  the  people!     Behold  the  defender  of  Hberty!" 

The  revolutionists  raised  an  army  of  their 
own,  placed  a  guard  around  the  palace,  and 
made  the  king  a  prisoner.  Then  they  brought 
him  to  trial  and  charged  him  with  being  the 
cause  of  all  the  troubles  that  the  people  of  France 
had   suffered   during  his  reign. 

Three  excellent  law^^ers  were  employed  to 
defend  him;  and  they  spoke  very  strongly  in 
his  behalf.  But  on  January  16,  1793,  this 
mock  court  sentenced  him  to  death. 

After  the  death  of  Louis  XVI,  Robespierre 
became  the  absolute  master  of  France;  and  he 
was  so  cruel  that  the  period  of  his  rule  has  been 
called  ''The  Reign  of  Terror."  People  were 
afraid,  when  they  rose  in  the  morning,  that  they 
might  be  beheaded  during  the  day;  and  when 
they  went  to  bed  they  feared  lest  assassins  might 
enter  their  rooms  and  kill  them  while  they 
slept. 

It  is  stated,  on  good  authority,  that  the  execu- 
tions during  Robespierre's  rule  averaged  al)Out 
thirty  a  day. 


284  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

After  a  while  people  began  to  see  that  their 
condition  had  not  improved.  Everybody  in  Paris 
was  extremely  unhappy;  and  some  did  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  they  were  worse  off  under 
Robespierre  than  they  had  been  under  Louis  XVI. 

As  Robespierre  himself  had  taught  the  people 
that  the  death  of  the  ruler  was  the  great  remedy 
for  their  troubles,  many  persons  began  to  think 
that  it  would  be  the  best  thing  for  France  if 
Robespierre  himself  should  be  put  to  death. 

A  conspiracy  was  formed  to  bring  Robespierre 
to  trial;  and  one  day  a  bold  speaker  arose  in  the 
Convention  and  openly  blamed  him  for  his  cruelty. 

Robespierre  rose  from  his  seat  and  was  about 
to  make  a  speech  in  his  own  defense ;  but  the 
hall  was  filled  with  cries  of  "Down  with  the 
tyrant!  Down  with  the  tyrant!"  and  he  fled 
from  the  building  in  great  alarm. 

In  a  few  moments  he  was  surrounded  by  the 
officers  of  the  Convention.  As  they  were  about 
to  seize  him  he  tried  to  kill  himself  by  firing  a 
pistol  at  his  head;  but  the  ball  only  fractured 
his  lower  jaw. 

Together  with  twenty  of  his  friends  he  was 
executed  on  the  same  day  on  which  he  was  ar- 
rested. 


Uiii>) 


NAPOLEON   BONAPARTE 

1769—1821 

The  home  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  for  the  first 
ten  years  of  his  life  was  at  Ajaccio  (a  yat'  cho) 
on  the  island  of  Corsica.  When  ten  years  of 
age  he  was  sent  to  a  military  school.  At  six- 
teen he  entered  the  army. 

When  France  was  declared  a  republic  he  sided 
with  the  revolutionists.  Some  of  the  people  of 
Paris  did  not  like  the  idea  of  a  republic,  and 
about  forty  thousand  of  them  marched  through 
the  streets  to  attack  the  Tuileries  where  the 
republican  Convention  was  sitting. 

The  Convention  had  learned  that  an  attack 
was  to  be  made  on  them,  and  they  had  prepared 
to  resist  it.  They  had  troops;  but  they  needed  a 
commander. 

One  of  the  members  who  knew  Napoleon 
said,  "I  know  just  the  man  you  want.  He  is 
a  little  Corsican  officer  and  will  not  stand  upon 
ceremony." 

Napoleon  was  sent  for  and  put  in  command. 
He  led  out  their  forces  and  many  of  the  royaUsts 
were  killed  or  wounded,  and  the  rest  fled.     He 


NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE 


287 


had  done  his  work  well,    and  the  Convention  at 
once  gave  him  a  higher  position. 

A  French  army,  sent  to  attack  the  Austrians 
in  North  Italy  was  placed  under  his  command. 
The  soldiers  were  greatly  dissatisfied  because 
their    pay    was    in    arrears.     Napoleon    said    to 


Dumas 


NAPOLEON    AT    SCIIOOL    IN    HHIENNK 


them,  ''1  will  lead  you  into  the  most  fertile  fields 
that  the  sun  shines  on.  Rich  ))rovinces  and 
great  cities  shall  be  your  reward." 

The  Austrians  posted  themselves  near  :i  town 
called  Lodi,  on  the  bank  of  tlic  l^iver  Addii.  A 
bridge    crossed    the    Adda    into    the    town,    and 


288  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

this  bridge  was  first  taken.  Then  Napoleon 
and  General  Lannes  made  a  splendid  charge  and 
captured    the    town    itself. 

Four  days  later  Napoleon  entered  Milan,  and 
compelled  that  wealthy  city  to  pay  him  nearly 
four  million  dollars.  Mantua  was  also  captured 
and  the  palaces  of  the  dukes  and  nobles  were 
plundered. 

When  peace  was  made  Austria  was  obliged 
to  surrender  Belgium,  Corfu  and  the  Ionian 
Islands,  and  to  liberate  General  Lafayette  and 
other  Frenchmen  held  in  Austrian  prisons. 

With  French  aid,  republics  were  established 
in  Switzerland,  Naples,  and  Rome;  and  Napo- 
leon then  said:  ''If  my  voice  has  any  influence 
England  shall  never  have  one  hour's  truce  until 
she  is  destroyed." 

But  his  next  campaign  was  in  Egypt,  where 
he  was  again  victorious.  The  English  com- 
mander. Nelson,  however,  destroyed  the  ships  in 
which  the  French  soldiers  were  expecting  to  re- 
turn; and  so  Napoleon,  leaving  fifteen  thousand 
troops  to  hold  possession  of  Egypt,  marched 
the  remainder  of  his  army  into  Palestine. 

He  was  successful  in  an  attack  on  Jaffa.  Then 
he  proceeded  northward  to  Acre,  which  was 
garrisoned   by    the   Turks.     After   besieging   this 


NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE  289 

town  for  more  than  sixty  days,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  withdraw. 

Napoleon  then  returned  to  Egypt  and  found  a 
great  Turkish  army  just  about  to  attack  the 
troops  he  had  left  there;  but  he  conquered 
them  in  a  single  battle  and  once  more  hastened 
back  to  France,  where  he  was  warmly  welcomed 
by  the  people,  and  was  the  idol  of  the  army. 

At  that  time  France  was  governed  by  five 
men  who  were  called  ^'The  Directory,"  or  ruling 
body  of  France.  There  was  also  a  ''Council 
of  Five  Hundred,"  something  hke  our  House  of 
Representatives. 

The  Directory  resigned;  and  since  many  of 
the  Council  of  Five  Hundred  disUked  him.  Napo- 
leon had  them  turned  out  of  office. 

Napoleon  and  two  associates  were  then  made 
rulers  of  France,  under  the'  title  of  Consuls; 
and,  although  he  was  known  as  the  "First  Con- 
sul," he  was  the  real  governor  of  the  French 
nation. 

One  of  the  first  things  Napoleon  did  after  Ixnng 
made  First  Consul,  was  to  write  a  letter  to  (leorge 
in,  king  of  England,  proposing  that  England 
and  France  should  make  jicace.  The  iMiglish 
government  replied  that  the  easiest  thing  for 
France  to  do,  if  she  desired  ))ra('e  with  the  otlicr 

IIAAREN-M.T.-I'J 


(290) 


NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE  291 

powers  of  Europe,  would  be  to  restore  the  royal 
family   to   the   throne. 

Napoleon  then  made  his  famous  attack  on 
Italy,  which  had  been  lost  to  France  while  he 
was  in  Egypt. 

Sixty  thousand  men  were  ordered  to  cross 
the  Alps.  They  were  to  go  by  four  different 
passes  and  then  to  meet  in  Italy.  Cannon  had 
to  be  dragged  o\'er  the  snow;  and  sometimes 
a  hundred  men  were  required  to  handle  a  single 
large  gun. 

They  passed  the  Monastery  of  St.  Bernard 
and  descended  into  Italy.  A  desperate  battle 
was  fought  at  Marengo;  and,  after  a  partial 
defeat,  the  French  were  again  victorious. 

The  conqueror  returned  home  in  trium])h, 
but  his  enemies  attempted  to  assassinate  him 
by  explodinfi;  a  barrel  of  gunpowder  under  his 
carriage.  The  carriage,  however,  had  got  safely 
past  })efore  the  explosion  took  place. 

This  incident  led  to  giving  him  still  greater 
power,  and  Napoleon  was  from  tliat  time  con- 
sidered as  the  emj)eror  of  the  French. 

In  INOI,  the  \('rv  next  yeni-  at'lcr  (he  xiclory 
at  ^hirengo,  Hritisli  lro()|»s  hindcd  in  Egy|»l, 
and  in  one  short  campaign  drove  tlie  Fi'cn:'h 
out  of  that  count rv. 


292  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

When  Napoleon  heard  that  Egypt  was  lost, 
he  said,  ''Well!  There  remains  only  the  descent  on 
Britain;"  and  in  a  short  time  one  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  men  were  ready  to  invade  England. 

An  immense  number  of  flat-bottomed  boats 
were  prepared  to  carry  this  force  across  the 
channel.  But  Lord  Nelson  was  guarding  the 
English  coasts  by  day  and  by  night.  Napoleon 
knew  that  Nelson's  guns  would  soon  sink  his 
boats;  and  so  a  treaty  of  peace  was  made  in 
1802,  and  the  struggle  with  England  was  again 
postponed. 

Napoleon  was  as  great  a  tyrant  as  Louis  XVI; 
and  he  tried  to  be  as  tyrannical  in  foreign  coun- 
tries as  he  was  at  home.  The  people  of  northern 
Italy  were  so  alarmed  by  his  victories  at  Lodi, 
Mantua,  and  Marengo,  that  they  allowed  him 
to  take  from  them  all  independence  and  make 
their  states  a  province  of  France.  He  treated 
Switzerland  in   the  same   w^ay. 

The  peace  between  France  and  England  lasted 
but  one  year,  and  then  Napoleon  again  prepared 
for  an  invasion.  A  large  army  was  assembled 
in  camps  along  the  coasts  of  France  and  Holland, 
but  the  French  were  again  hindered  from  saiUng 
by   the   vigilance   of   Nelson. 

The  coronation  of  the  emperor  and  empress, 


NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE 


293 


on  May  18,  1804,  was  a  very  grand  affair; 
and  the  French  people  seemed  to  be  well  satisfied 
^^ith  their  new  rulers. 

A     few     months     later     Napoleon     went     to 

Milan  and  there 
crowned  himself 
''King  of  Italy" 
with  the  famous 
iron  crown  of 
Charlemagne. 
This  angered  the 
Austrians  and 
Russians,  and 
Russia  and  Eng- 
land became  the 
allies  of  Austria. 
Napoleon  con- 
tinued to  wage 
war  until  his  very 
name  became  a 
terror,  and  after 
his  great  victory 
at  Austerlitz  men  feared  him  more  and  more.  At 
the  battle  of  Jena  (ya'  na),  where  he  fought  against 
the  Prussians,  lie  was  again  (rimii|)li;iii(.  mid  he 
carried  himself  as  though  he  was  (he  inaslcr  of 
the  wf)rld. 


(,\ranl 
NAPOLEON  IN  CORONATION  KOHES 


294 


NAPOLEON    BONAPARTE 


He  divorced  his  wife  Josephine,  and  married 
Maria  Louisa,  daughter  of  the  emperor  of 
Austria. 

Trouble  again  arose  with  Russia,  and  Napo- 
leon's advisers  tried   to  persuade  him  not  to  go 


j^p52tjj5yi 

^SS^l" 

...  >-?vk            aMMSiiB^HBi^H 

^■■•^»4«-.  .  *    ;5^ 

^   ./^^E^aaSHl^H 

Hfl^^^ii 

NAPOLEON     AT    THE    BATTLE    OF    JENA 


to  war;  but  he  said,  "The  states  of  Europe 
must  be  melted  into  one  nation,  and  Paris  must 
be  its  capital." 

The  Russian  army  was  only  about  half  as  large 
as  that  of  the  French.     By  a  system  of  carefully 


NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE  295 

arranged  retreats  it  lured  Napoleon  and  his  men 
into  the  very  heart  of  Russia. 

Near  Moscow  a  battle  was  fought  which  lasted 
all  day,  and  neither  party  could  claim  the  vic- 
tory. Next  morning  the  Russians  had  disap- 
peared, and  the  French  army  entered  the  city 
and  pillaged  it.  But  so  many  fires  occurred 
that  Napoleon  was  obliged  to  leave  the  city  just 
as  the  terrible  Russian  winter  began. 

When  the  French  entered  Moscow,  over  one 
hundred  thousand  soldiers  answered  the  roll- 
call;  but  when  they  returned  to  France  only 
twelve  thousand  were  alive.  It  has  been  well 
said  that  '^the  fortunes  of  Napoleon  were  buried 
in  the  Russian  snows." 

England,  Russia,  Prussia,  Sweden  and  Austria 
now  declared  war  against  him.  He  was  defeated 
at  Leipzig  and  again  driven  back  into  France. 
The  allied  armies  pursued  him,  captured  Paris, 
forced  him  to  abdicate,  and  placed  Louis  XVIII 
on  the  throne.  Napoleon  was  l)anished  to  a 
httle   island   in    the   Mediterranean,    called    Elba. 

Louis  XVIII  tried  to  govern  as  his  brother 
hafl  done  before  the  revolution,  and  the  French 
again  became  discontented.  When,  therefore, 
the  news  was  heard  that  Napoleon  liad  escnjied 
from   IJba   and   was  again   in   France,   the  whole 


296  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

nation  broke  into  the  wildest  rejoicing,  and 
Napoleon  was  once  more  emperor. 

He  marched  into  Belgium,  and  there  fought 
his  last  battle.  He  had  a  fine  army,  and  the 
English  and  Prussian  generals,  Wellington  and 
Blucher,  were  equally  well  equipped. 

Napoleon  managed  to  get  between  the  English 
and  Prussian  armies.  He  defeated  the  Prussians 
on  June  16,  but  in  turn  was  beaten  by  the 
English.  Then  on  the  heights  about  Waterloo, 
the  decisive  battle  was  fought,   June    18,    1815. 

Both  sides  fought  with  great  bravery.  In 
front  of  the  English  was  a  sunken  road  cut  into 
the  hill  like  a  ditch ;  and  this  was  concealed  from 
the  French  by  a  hedge. 

Three  thousand  five  hundred  of  the  French 
cavalry  plunged  into  this  ditch,  as  they  rode 
up  rank  after  rank;  and  the  survivors  were  com- 
pelled to  ride  over  the  struggling  bodies  of  their 
comrades. 

Then  the  English,  drawn  up  in  solid  masses, 
received  the  French  charge  on  the  points  of 
their  bayonets,  and,  at  the  same  time,  poured 
a  heavy  fire  into  their  broken  ranks. 

At  about  five  in  the  afternoon  Blucher  ap- 
peared and  united  his  troops  with  those  of  Well- 
ington.    Napoleon's  famous  '^Old  Guard"  made 


(^'77) 


298  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

a  charge  which  WelHngton  himself  said  was 
''splendid;"  but  the  French  army  was  thrown 
into  confusion  and  Wellington  won  the  day. 

A  month  later  Napoleon  went  on  board  the 
Bellerophon,  an  English  man-of-war,  and  sur- 
rendered himself  to  the  captain.  He  was  after- 
wards taken  by  the  British  to  an  island  in  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  called  St.  Helena,  and  was  kept 
a  prisoner  there  until  his  death  in  1821. 

In  1840,  the  French  government  requested 
the  English  to  allow  them  to  bring  his  body  to 
France. 

In  Paris  the  body  was  received  by  Louis 
Philippe,  who  was  then  king  of  France.  More 
than  a  million  people  gathered  in  the  streets 
through  which  the  funeral  procession  passed; 
and  thirty  thousand  were  present  at  the  funeral 
service,  which  closed  with  a  requiem  sung  by 
three  hundred  voices. 


HORATIO   NELSON 

1758—1805 

Horatio  Xelsoii  was  born  in  1758.  At  twelve 
years  of  age  he  asked  permission  to  go  to  sea 
vvith  an  uncle  named  Suckling;  but  as  his  uncle 
did  not  sail  that  year,  he  was  sent  in  charge  of  a 
friend,  on  a  voyage  to  the  West  Indies. 

It  was  not  many  days  before  the  sailor  boy 
knew  the  name  of  every  rope. on  the  ship,  and 
the  use  of  each.  He  could  "box  the  compass," 
that  is,  repeat  the  names  of  all  the  thirty-two 
points  backwards  and  forwards,  and  could  tell 
in  what  direction  the  ship  was  sailing.  When 
he  returned  to  England  he  was  fonder  of  the  sea 
than  ever. 

Some  time  after  reaching  home  he  heard  that 
two  ships  of  the  iia\v  wore  going  to  the  North 
Pole,  and  he  obtained  permission  to  go  with 
them. 

The  vessels  after  sailing  far  toward  Ihc  iiorlli, 
were  becalmed.  Tiic  weather  became  very  cold, 
and  they  were  surrounded  by  great  fields  of  ice. 

One  night,  while  they  were  frozen  up  in  the 
ice   fields,   Nelson   anrl   one  of  his  comrades  stole 


300  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

■  away  from  their  ship  to  attack  a  huge  polar 
bear.  Pretty  soon  they  were  missed;  but  al- 
though they  were  not  far  away  a  thick  fog  pre- 
vented those  on  board  from  seeing  them.  The 
captain  became  alarmed,  the  signal  for  their 
return  was  fired,  and  Nelson,  much  disappointed, 
went  back  to  the  ship. 

Fortunately,  a  wind  soon  sprang  up  from 
the  east  and  a  current  drifted  them  into  clear 
water.  In  due  time  they  sighted  ^'Old  England" 
once  more. 

Nelson's  next  voyage  was  to  the  East  Indies, 
and  there  he  cruised  about  for  eighteen  months. 
The  hot  climate  did  not  agree  with  him,  and 
he  was  finally  sent  home;  but  on  the  voyage 
his  health  improved  so  much  that  when  he 
reached  England  he  was  ready  to  go  to  sea 
again. 

The  Spaniards  then  claimed  Central  and  South 
America;  and  England  was  at  war  with  Spain. 
So  a  plan  was  proposed  to  seize  that  part  of 
South  America  where  the  canal  is  now  being  cut 
to  connect  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans. 

There  the  Spaniards  had  two  forts,  and  Nelson 
was  sent  to  capture  them.  When  he  got  near 
one  of  them  he  leaped  ashore  from  his  boat. 
He  alighted  on  ground  so  soft  that  he  sank  into 


LORD   NELSON  301 

it  and  lost  his  shoes.  But  this  did  not  stop  him. 
Barefoot  he  led  on  his  men  and  took  one  fort. 
The  other  was  also  soon  taken;  but  the  climate 
of  the  region  was  far  more  deadly  than  the  guns 
of  the  Spaniards;  and  Nelson  was  obliged  to 
return  to  England  on  sick  leave. 

It  was  three  months  before  he  was  well  enough 
to  go  to  sea  again.  He  was  then  appointed 
to  the  AU^emarle,  a  vessel  of  twenty-eight  guns. 
This  was  at  the  time  that  George  III  was  trying 
to  conquer  the  American  colonies;  and  Nelson 
was  sent  to  cruise  in  the  waters  of  Canada  and 
New  England. 

After  the  surrender  of  the  British  at  York- 
town,  Nelson  wrote  home;  ''I  have  closed  the 
war  without  a  fortime;  but  there  is  not  a  speck 
on  my  character." 

After  the  execution  of  Louis  NVI,  England, 
as  we  have  said,  was  at  wai-  with  France,  and 
Nelson  was  put  in  conmiand  of  llic  Agamemnon, 
a  sliip  of  sixty-four  guns. 

The  French,  at  about  this  time,  took  ))os- 
session  of  the  little  island  of  Corsica  on  which 
Naj)ol('on  was  boiii.  Ihcy  |;lace(l  a  ganison 
in  a  foiMificd  town  callcMl  ('al\i:  and  the  Fniilish 
laid  sicixc  to  it.  The  Agamemnon  was  oi'dered 
to   aid    the    land    forces;    and   so    Nelson    took    his 


302  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

men  and  guns  ashore,   and  fought  on  the  land. 

Calvi  was  taken  and  Corsica  was  annexed  to 
Great  Britain;  but  for  Nelson  this  battle  proved 
a  serious  matter.  A  shot  struck  the  ground 
near  him  and  drove  some  sand  and  gravel  into 
his  eye.  He  thought,  at  first,  that  no  great 
harm  had  been  done;  but  the  sight  of  the  eye 
was   lost. 

A  short  time  after  this  the  English  admiral 
under  whom  Nelson  was  serving,  learned  that  a 
French  fleet  of  twenty-two  vessels,  with  over 
sixteen  thousand  men,  was  not  far  off.  The 
English  fleet  consisted  of  only  fifteen  ships,  with 
half  as  many  men  as  the  French.  However, 
when  they  came  in  sight  of  the  French  they 
gave  chase. 

The  Agamemnon  with  her  sixty-four  guns 
followed  a  French  frigate  of  eighty-four,  called 
the  Ca  Ira.  Nelson  was  all  alone,  for  the  other 
ships  of  the  Enghsh  fleet  were  several  miles 
distant.  Near  the  Ca  Ira  were  three  other 
French  vessels  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  guns. 

Nelson  sailed  close  up  to  the  big  ship,  and 
when  about  one  hundred  yards  astern  of  her, 
suddenly  ordered  the  helm  to  be  put  to  the  right, 
and  fired  his  whole  broadside — that  is,  all  the 
guns  on  one  side  of  his  vessel.     Then  he  ordered 


LORD   NELSON  303 

the  helm  hard  to  the  left  and  started  after  the 
Frenchmen  again;  and  when  he  came  near  he 
turned  and  fired  another  broadside. 

This  he  did  again  and  again  for  two  hours  and 
a  quarter,  always  keeping  out  of  the  range  of 
the  enemy's  guns.  But  so  many  other  French 
ships  came  upon  the  scene  that,  fearing  that 
they  would  prove  too  much  for  him,  he  sailed 
away  and  joined  the  English  fleet. 

Next  morning  the  French  fleet  was  again  dis- 
covered about  five  miles  awav;  but  the  Ca  Ira 
had  been  so  much  injured  that  she  had  to  be 
towed,  and  was  only  about  three  and  a  half 
miles  distant. 

Nelson  attacked  both  the  Ca  Ira  and  the  ves- 

< 

sel  which  was  towing  her.  The  French  fought 
gallantly,  but  the  guns  of  the  Agamemnon  were 
so  well  aimed  that  the  two  French  ships  lost 
about  three  liundred  men.  Then  both  of  them 
lowered  their  colors  and  surrendered. 

Spain  was  now  in  alliance  with  France  and 
fighting  against  England.  Nelson  attacked  a 
Spanish  frigate,  and  aftei"  con(|uering  her  had 
the  caj)taiii    hiougiit    on   boai'd   his  shij). 

Then  four  more  Sj)anish  vessels  hove  in  sight 
and  Nelson  jjiiidcntly  sailed  ;i\\ay.  As  soon 
as  he  reached   a    poif .   lie  gaxc   the  S|)anish   caj)- 


304  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

tain  his  liberty  and  sent  him  to  his  friends  under 
a  flag  of  truce. 

Not  long  after  this  the  English  fleet  of  nine- 
teen vessels  was  signaled  to  keep  in  line  of  battle 
all  night.  At  daybreak  a  Spanish  fleet  of  thirty- 
eight  vessels  was  in  sight.  Sir  John  Jervis, 
finding  that  they  were  much  scattered,  ordered 
the  EngHsh  ships  to  sail  in  among  them  and 
attack  them.  Nelson  was  so  much  afraid  that 
the  Spanish  ships  would  escape  that  he  was 
soon  engaged  with  seven  Spanish  vessels  which 
had  in  all  about  six  hundred  guns. 

Fortunately  two  British  vessels  came  up'  to 
the  assistance  of  Nelson's  ship.  Both  these 
ships  were  damaged  by  shots  from  the  gims  of 
the  Spaniards;  but  at  length  Nelson  managed 
to  steer  alongside  of  one  of  the  Spanish  vessels 
called  the  St.  Nicholas,  and  he  and  his  men 
boarded  her. 

The  Spanish  officers  took  refuge  in  the  cabin, 
and  fired  at  the  boarding  party  through  the 
windows;  but  the  EngHsh  forced  the  doors  and 
the  Spaniards  surrendered  their  swords  to  Nelson. 

Another  Spanish  vessel  called  the  San  Joseph 
lay  close  to  the  St.  Nicholas;  and  the  Eng- 
lish, led  by  Nelson  himself,  forced  her  to  sur- 
render. 


NKL.S()N      nuAKUINc;     Till;     ST.     MCIKJLAS 
ilAAREN-M.T.-20 


806  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

For  his  great  bravery  Nelson  was  made  a 
Knight  of  the  Bath,  and  so  became  Sir  Horatio 
Nelson. 

His  next  adventure  was  an  attack  upon  Tene- 
riffe;  and  there  he  was  so  severely  injured  in  the 
right  arm  that  he  was  obliged  to  have  it  ampu- 
tated. 

After  recovering  from  his  wound  he  was  again 
placed  in  command.  His  vessel  was  the  Van- 
guard. Napoleon  was  preparing  his  great  ex- 
pedition for  the  conquest  of  Egypt.  Nelson 
sailed  in  search  of  the  French  and  defeated  them 
in  the  great  battle  of  the  Nile. 

In  this  engagement  he  was  again  wounded, 
but  not  so  seriously  as  was  at  first  supposed. 

After  the  battle  he  again  returned  to  England. 
When  he  entered  the  harbor  of  Yarmouth  every 
ship  in  port  hoisted  her  colors;  and  in  London 
he  was  drawn  in  triumph  through  the  streets, 
and  presented  by  the  City  Council  with  a  gold- 
hilted  sword  studded  with  diamonds. 

Napoleon  was  now  at  the  height  of  his  power. 
Denmark,  Sweden  and  Russia  had  formed  an 
alUance  with  France  to  try  and  take  from  Eng- 
land her  sovereignty  of  the  seas.  The  hostile 
fleets  met  off  Copenhagen.  Part  of  the  English 
fleet    was   under   Nelson's    command.     The   ad- 


LORD   NELSON  307 

mirai  who  was  chief  in  command  was  at  some 
distance  when  the  battle  began. 

Thinking  that  the  engagement  was  going  against 
them,  he  gave  the  signal  to  cease  firing;  and 
the  officer  on  Nelson's  ship  whose  duty  it  was 
to  watch  for  signals  reported  this  to  Nelson. 

Nelson  put  his  spyglass  to  his  blind  eye  and 
looking  toward  the  admiral's  ship,  said,  ''I  really 
do  not  see  the  signal.  Keep  mine  flying  for 
closer  battle." 

Soon  white  flags  were  flying  from  the  mastheads 
of  many  of  the  Danish  vessels.  Nelson  had 
disobeyed  orders,  but  he  had  gained  the  victory, 
and  the  enemy's  fleet  was  disabled. 

In  1804  France  induced  Spain  to  join  her  in  a 
war  against  England,  and  a  French  and  Spanish 
fleet  sailed  to  the  West  Indies  to  attack  the 
English  and  take  possession  there.  But  they 
returned  to  Europe,  and  Nelson  learning  that 
they  were  at  Cadiz,  went  there  to  meet  them. 

Soon  after  his  arrival,  one  of  his  frigates  on 
the  lookout,  gave  the  signal  that  the  French 
and  Spanish  fleet  was  coming  out  of  j)ort. 

Just  l)efore  they  wcuf  into  battle  Nelson  wrote 
a  remarka})le  prayer  :iii(I  his  I;isl  wishes.  'l'h(Mi 
he  ordered  llie  f.-iinous  signal  to  be  made  to  llie 
fleet,  ''England  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty." 


LORD  NELSON  309 

The  French  had  some  Tyrolese  riflemen  on 
one  of  their  ships;  and  a  ball  from  one  of  their 
rifles  struck  Nelson  on  the  shoulder.  He  fell. 
When  taken  up  he  said  to  his  captain,  "They 
have  done  for  me  at  last,  Hardy.  My  back- 
hone  is  shot  through."  He  knew  that  his  wound 
was  fatal,  and  when  carried  to  the  cockpit  told 
the  surgeon  to  attend  to  the  others,  "for"  said 
he,  "you  can  do  nothing  for  me." 

About  an  hour  after  he  was  wounded  Captain 
Hardy  came  to  see  him.  "Well,  Hardy,"  said 
he,  "how  goes  the  day  with  us?"  "Very  well," 
said  Hardy,  "  ten  ships  have  struck."  In  less 
than  an  hour  the  captain  returned  and  taking 
Nelson's  hand,  congratulated  him  on  having 
gained  a  complete  victory. 

Presently  the  dying  man  said,  "Kiss  me, 
Hardy."  Hardy  knelt  down  and  kissed  his  cheek; 
and  Nelson  said,  "Now  I  am  satisfied.  Thank 
God  I  have  done  my  duty."  These  words  he 
repeated  several  times;    and  they  were  his  last. 

Thus  Admiral  Nelson,  perhaps  the  greatest  of 
England's  naval  commanders  died  on  his  good  ship 
"Victory,"  in  Trafalgar  Bay,  on  October'il,  ISOf). 

His  body  was  carried  })ack  to  Knglniid.  .iiid 
was  buried  with  great  pomp  in  Si.  Paul's  Calhc- 
dral  in  London. 


THADDEUS  KOSCIUSKO 

1746—1817 

Americans  will  never  cease  to  honor  the  mem- 
ory of  the  Polish  patriot,  Thaddeus  Kosciusko 
(kos  si  us'  ko).  In  his  early  manhood  he  was 
one  of  the  noble  band  of  liberty-loving  foreigners, 
who  came  to  the  United  States  and  aided  the 
American  patriots  in  their  struggle  for  independ- 
ence. 

Kosciusko  was  born  in  Poland  in  1746.  After 
a  long  and  thorough  course  of  study  in  the  best 
military  schools  of  Europe,  he  was  appointed 
a  captain  in  the  Polish  army.  When  the  Ameri- 
can revolution  began,  he  determined  to  take  part 
in  it.  He  came  to  the  United  States  and  sought 
General  Washington,  who  was  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  American  army. 

''General,"  he  said,  when  he  stood  before 
Washington,  ''I  have  come  to  offer  myself  as 
a  volunteer  to  fight  for  American  indepen- 
dence." 

"You  are  heartily  welcome,  captain,"  replied 
Washington,  warmly  shaking  the  hand  of  Kos- 
ciusko.    ''The    patriot    cause    has    need    of    the 


KOSCIUSKO 


311 


services  of  every   one  who  is  willing  to  aid  it. 
What  can  you  do?" 

'^Try  me,"  said  Kosciusko  modestly. 

Washington  smiled.  "I  will  try  you,  cap- 
tain," he  said  cordially,  "and  I  do  not  doubt 
that  you   will  perform  valuable   service." 

Kosciusko  was 
appointed  colonel 
of  engineers,  and 
soon  showed  by 
his  skill  in  con- 
structing fortifi- 
cations that  he 
could,  indeed, 
render  valuable 
service  to  the 
American  army. 
He  was  su})se- 
quently  made  one 
of  Washington's 
staff  officers,  and  served  with  the  grcal  com- 
mander for  some  time. 

"Never  have  I  known  Ijcttcr  oi-  more  fnilliful 
service  from  any  one,"  said  Washington  once 
when  speaking  of  Kosciusko's  work  :is  a  slalt 
officer.  "He  was  j)rom])t,  diligent,  full  of  vn- 
lliusiasni,  while  a(   the  saiiic  liiiic  he   was   a    man 


KOSCIUSKO 


312  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

of  large  education  and  accomplishments.  I  re- 
garded him  almost  as  a  younger  brother,  and 
trusted  him  with  my  most  important  plans."' 

Toward  the  close  of  the  war,  Kosciusko  was 
honored  with  the  public  thanks  of  the  Continental 
Congress  for  his  gallant  deeds.  He  was  ap- 
pointed brigadier  general,  and  for  some  months 
commanded  a  large  force  of  the  American 
army. 

When  the  revolution  ended,  Kosciusko  went 
back  to  Poland,  proud  to  have  taken  part  in  the 
patriotic  struggle.  His  countrymen  welcomed 
him  home  with  enthusiasm;  and  later  he  was 
made  major  general  in  the  Polish  army. 

In  1791,  the  Poles  were  forced  to  resist  an 
invasion  of  their  country  by  the  Russians  and 
Prussians.  Kosciusko  took  part  in  the  war, 
and  on  two  occasions  by  skillful  management 
saved   the  Polish  force  from  entire  destruction. 

At  the  battle  of  Dubienka,  with  only  about 
four  thousand  men,  he  kept  at  bay  a  Russian 
army  of  twenty  thousand,  and  finally  made  his 
retreat  without  great  loss.  The  Poles  were  gener- 
ally out-numbered  by  the  Russians  and  they 
fought  gallantly;  but  they  were  completely  over- 
powered. Russia  and  Prussia  both  annexed  large 
parts  of  Poland. 


KOSCIUSKO 


313 


This  annexation  is  known  as  the  second  parti- 
tion of  Poland.  The  first  partition  had  taken 
place  twenty  years  before,  when  Austria,  Russia, 
and  Prussia  each  took  parts  of  the  Httle  kingdom. 

In  1794  the  Poles  were  so  angry  at  the  loss  of 
their  country  that  they  took  up  arms  once  more. 


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KOSCIDSKO     AT     RACLAWICE 


A  revolt  was  secretly  planned,  and  on  a  cer- 
tain day  in  the  spring  of  1794,  Kosciusko  sud- 
denly appeared  in  the  city  of  Cracow. 

"The  Russians  must  be  driven  from  Poland; 
they  must  not  rule  our  t'.-iir  hind,"  said  Kosciusko 
to   those   of   his   countrymen    who   assembled    at 


314  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

his  call.  ''We  can  free  ourselves  from  Russian 
slavery  if  we  will  fight." 

The  Poles  hastily  armed  themselves,  many 
with  nothing  but  scythes,  and  advanced  to  meet 
the  Russian  army.  After  a  sharp  contest  the 
enemy  was  driven  out  of  Cracow. 

A  week  later,  at  Raclawice  (rat  sla  vit'  se), 
a  Polish  army  of  five  thousand,  led  by  Kosciusko, 
routed  a  great  force  of  Russians,  and  returned 
triumphantly  to  Cracow.  The  rebellion  went 
on  for  several  months  with  some  success. 

On  October  10,  1794,  an  immense  force  of 
Russians  advanced  against  the  Poles.  The  little 
army  of  patriots  numbered  only  four  thousand. 
The  Poles  were  defeated  with  heavy  loss;  and 
Kosciusko,  fighting  desperately,  fell  from  his 
horse  severely  wounded. 

He  was  made  prisoner  by  the  Russians,  and 
taken  to  St.  Petersburg,  where  he  suffered  a 
rigorous  imprisonment.  The  Russian  general, 
Suwaroff,  captured  Warsaw,  and  the  kingdom 
of  Poland  came  to  an  end ;  for  now  Russia,  Prussia 
and  Austria  took  to  themselves  all  that  remained 
of  the  PoHsh  territory. 

When  Kosciusko  had  been  in  confinement 
two  years,  the  czar  gave  him  his  liberty.  "You 
are  an  enemy  of  Russia;"  said  the  czar  to  him, 


KOSCIUSKO  315 

"but    you    have    shown    great    heroism;     and    I 
cannot  help  admiring  a  brave  man." 

The  czar  seeing  that  Kosciusko  had  no  sword, 
offered  him  one. 

"I  have  no  need  of  a  sword,"  said  Kosciusko. 
'■'I  have  no  country  now  to  defend." 

Immediately  after  his  release  from  the  Russian 
prison,  Kosciusko  went  to  England  and  then  came  to 
the  United  States.  The  Americans  received  him 
"with  great  honor,  and  Congress  gave  him  a  lil^eral 
pension  for  his  services  in  the  Revolutionary 
War. 

For  some  years  afterwards  he  lived  in  France. 
Toward  the  close  of  his  life  he  made  his  home  in 
Switzerland,  where  he  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits. 

He  died  in  1817  in  consequence  of  a  fall  from 
a  horse. 

His  body  was  taken  to  Cracow  and  buried  in 
the    cathedral    near    the   graves   of   other    Polish 
patriots. 

After  the  burial,  the  Polish  people  brouglit 
earth  from  all  the  battlefields  on  which  Kosciusko 
IkhI  fought  for  Poland,  .'ind  crcctcMl,  near  ( Vncow, 
a  great  mound,  one  Inindicd  and  fifty  feet  high, 
in  honor  of  llicir  hero. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

1809—1865 

Abraham  Lincoln,  the  sixteenth  president  of 
the  United  States,  was  the  son  of  poor  parents, 
and  his  childhood  and  youth  were  full  of  trial 
and  hardship. 

His  father,  Thomas  Lincoln,  was  a  pioneer 
farmer  in  Kentucky;  and  there,  in  a  one-roomed 
log  cabin  of  the  poorer  sort,  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  born  on  February  12,  1809. 

His  mother  was  Nancy,  the  daughter  of  Joseph 
Hanks,  a  neighbor  who  was  also  trying  to  earn 
a  livelihood  out  of  the  soil.  Abraham  had  also 
one  sister,  of  whom  not  much  has  been  recorded. 

As  there  was  little  to  encourage  his  stay  in 
Kentucky,  Abraham's  father  moved  into  Indiana, 
and  built  a  log  cabin  in  the  midst  of  the  forest 
at  Pigeon  Creek.  Here  most  of  Lincoln's  boy- 
hood was  passed. 

In  1818,  Mrs.  Lincoln  died,  and  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  left  motherless. 

Eighteen  months  later  his  father  married  Mrs. 
Sarah  Bush  Johnston,  a  widow  who  had  been  a 
neighbor  in  Kentucky.     She  was  a  good  woman 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


317 


and  treated  Abraham  with  the  same  care  and 
tenderness  which  she  showed  to  her  owti  children. 
Abraham  Lincohi  formed  a  strong  attachment 
for  his  step-mother,  which  lasted  all  through  his 
Ufe.  She  was  really  able  to  do  more  for  him 
than  his  own  mother  had  been.     He  was  not  only 


BIRTHPLACE     OF     ABRAHAM      LINCOLN 

better  clothed  and  ])etter  fed;  but  he  also  liad 
considerable  help  in  his  struggle  for  an  education. 
Hy  the  time  he  was  ten  he  was  working  hard 
to  help  his  fafher  to  clear  some  land  and  turn  a 
little  ])iece  of  the  forest  into  a  farm,  lie  had 
little  or  no  schooling,  lie  once  s.-iid,  Inter  on  in 
life,  that  he  did  not  lliink  that  all  his  schooling 
as  a   lad   ;inioiin(('(|    to    more    than    six    months. 


318  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

He  learned  to  write  by  using  a  charred  stick 
for  a  pencil,  and  a  piece  of  board  for  a  slate.  There 
were  no  books  in  his  home  excepting  a  Bible,  a 
catechism  and  a  spelling  book. 

But  he  would  walk  miles  to  borrow  a  book, 
and  he  read  with  great  care  everything  that  he 
could  find.  He  thus  gathered  a  store  of  infor- 
mation that  was  of  service  to  him  throughout 
his  wonderful  career. 

At  sixteen  years  of  age  he  had  almost  reached 
the  height  of  six  feet  and  four  inches  for  which 
he  was  noted  in  after  years. 

His  bodily  strength  was  very  great,  and  his 
services  were  very  much  in  demand.  He  did 
everything  he  could  to  help  his  parents. 

,  In  1830  the  Lincoln  family  moved  into  IlHnois 
and  from  that  time  their  fortunes  began  to  im- 
prove. 

Lincoln  was  now  twenty-one.  One  who  knew 
him  well  at  that  time,  thus  describes  his  personal 
appearance:  ''He  was  tall,  angular,  and  un- 
gainly, and  wore  trousers  made  of  flax  and  tow, 
cut  tightly  at  the  ankles  and  loosely  at  the  knees. 
He  was  very  poor,  but  was  welcome  in  every 
house  in  the  neighborhood." 

He  built  a  flatboat,  with  his  father's  consent, 
and   carried   a  load   of  farm  produce  down   the 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  319 

river  to  market.  It  was  on  this  trip  that  he 
earned  his  first  dollar  by  carrying  two  gentlemen 
and  their  trunks  out  to  a  steamer  on  the  Ohio, 
a  fact  of  which  he  was  very  proud  and  of  which 
he  often  spoke  in  after  years. 

He  afterwards  made  other  trips  as  a  boatman 
and  was  very  successful  in  them.  It  was  on  one 
of  these  trips  that  he  witnessed,  in  New  Orleans, 
the  brutality  of  the  slave  trade.  This  led  him  to 
say,  ''If  ever  I  get  a  chance  to  hit  that  institu- 
tion, I'll  hit  it  hard." 

He  next  entered  the  employ  of  a  Mr.  Offutt 
who  put  him  in  charge  of  a  general  store  at  New 
Salem. 

While  tending  this  store,  Lincoln  once  sold  to 
a  woman  goods  for  which  she  paid  the  amount 
of  two  dollars,  six  and  a  quarter  cents.  He  dis- 
covered later  that  a  mistake  had  been  made,  and 
that  the  store  owed  the  customer  the  six  and 
a  quarter  cents.  After  he  had  closed  the  store  that 
night,  he  walked  several  miles  in  the  darkness  to 
return  the  amount. 

At  another  time  a  woman  bought  a  pound  of 
tea.  Lincoln  discovered  the  next  morning  that  a 
smaller  weight  was  on  the  scales.  He  at  once 
weighed  out  the  remainder,  and  walked  some 
distance  before  breakfast  to  deliver  it. 


320  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

It  was  by  such  deeds  as  these  that  he  earned 
the  name  of  ''Honest  Abe."  He  gained  the  good 
will  of  his  neighbors  who  called  upon  him  to 
settle  their  disputes,  and  always  found  him  fair 
and  upright  in  his  decisions. 

Misfortune  overtook  Mr.  Offutt  and  Lincoln 
entered  the  service  of  the  state  of  Illinois  in 
what  is  known  as  the  Black  Hawk  War.  He  was 
elected  captain  of  the  company,  but  neither  he 
nor  his  men  were  called  upon  to  do  any  actual 
fighting. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  New 
Salem,  and  was  urged  to  become  a  member  of 
the  legislature  of  Illinois;  but  he  failed  to  be 
elected. 

Like  Washington  he  took  up  the  business  of  a 
surveyor.  In  1833  he  was  made  postmaster  of 
New  Salem.  In  the  following  year,  1834,  an- 
other election  of  the  members  of  the  state  legis- 
lature took  place,  and  this  time  he  was  success- 
ful and  became  a  member  for  Sangamon  County. 

The  two  political  parties  were  then  known  as 
the  Democrats  and  the  Whigs,  and  Lincoln  be- 
longed to  the  Whigs. 

He  was  still  so  poor  that  he  was  obliged  to  bor- 
row money  with  which  to  purchase  suitable 
clothing  before  he  could  take  his  seat  in  the  House. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  321 

His  entering  the  legislature  was  an  important 
event  in  his  life.  The  capital  of  the  state  was 
soon  afterwards  changed  from  Vandalia  to  Spring- 
field; and  Lincoln  who  was  rapidly  rising  into 
fame  took  up  the  study  of  law. 

As  a  lawyer  he  was  decidedly  successful.  He 
formed  several  partnerships  with  lawyers  of  emin- 
ence, and  his  days  of  biting  poverty  were  over. 

He  still  continued  his  general  studies  and  be- 
came one  of  the  best  informed  men  in  the  state. 
He  gave  his  first  legal  fee  to  his  step-mother  in 
the  shape  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land, 
in  memory  of  her  great  kindness  to  him  as  a  boy. 

In  November,  1842,  Abraham  Lincoln  married 
Miss  Mary  Todd,  of  Lexington,  Kentucky,  and 
the  next  ten  years  were  the  happiest  of  his  whole 
life.  In  1846  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
United  States  Congress.  He  took  his  seat  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  at  Washington  on 
December  6th,  of  that  year. 

His  first  im))ortant  speech  in  Congress  was 
one  in  which  he  denounced  the  war  then  being 
carried  on  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico; 
a  speech  in  which  he  dealt  the  pro-sla\"cry  party 
a  severe  blow. 

At  the  end  of  his  first  term  in  Congress  Mr. 
Lincoln   determined    not   to   seek    re('l(>e(i()n.      lie 

HAAHBN     U.T.-21 


322  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

therefore  returned  to  Springfield  and  resumed 
the  practice  of  law. 

When,  in  1854,  a  bill  was  passed  which  put 
aside  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  gave  greater 
powers  to  the  friends  of  slavery,  Lincoln  again 
entered  politics.  He  became  a  candidate  for  the 
Illinois  legislature  and  was  elected. 

Mr.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  then  at  the  height 
of  his  power,  and  was  bitterly  opposed  to  Lincoln. 

In  1860,  with  Douglas  as  his  most  formidable 
competitor,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  president; 
and  in  February  1861,  he  left  Springfield  for 
Washington  and  was  duly  inaugurated  in  March 
of  that  year. 

In  the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  presi- 
dent the  South  feared  that  the  institution  of 
slavery  was  in  the  gravest  danger;  and  they 
put  forth  every  possible  effort  for  its  defense. 

Some  of  the  Southern  states  voted  to  secede 
from  the  Union,  Fort  Sumter  was  fired  upon,  and 
the  terrible  Civil  War  began. 

Lincoln  called  for  men,  and  readily  obtained 
them.  It  is  to  the  honor  of  Mr.  Douglas  that 
when  he  saw  the  real  danger  in  which  the  country 
stood,  he  acknowledged  himself  in  the  wrong 
and  became  one  of  Lincoln's  friends  and  sup- 
porters. 


(323J 


324  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

This  war,  sometimes  called  the  ''War  of  the 
Union,"  lasted  from  1861  to  1865.  It  was  the 
saddest  event  in  the  history  of  our  land;  and 
every  American  boy  and  girl  should  make  a  care- 
ful study  of  its  details  from  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter 
to  the  surrender  of  General  l^ee  at  Appomattox. 

These  were  trying  days  for  President  Lincoln; 
and  at  times  his  sufferings  were  intense.  But 
he  never  flinched  from  what  he  felt  to  be  his 
duty;      and     he     was     warmly     supported     by 

PART  OF  THE  AUTOGRAPH  COPY  OF  THE  PROCLAMATION 

the  generals,  the  army,  and  the  people  of  the 
North. 

During  the  progress  of  the  war,  after  due  warn- 
ing, he  issued  his  famous  Emancipation  Pro- 
clamation; and  on  January  1,  1863,  most  of 
the  slaves  in  the  South  were  declared  free. 

In  1864,  the  year  before  the  close  of  the  war, 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  again  elected  president; 
and  on  March  4,  1865,  he  entered  upon  his 
second  term  of  office.     His  majority  at  his  second 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  325 

election  was  the  largest  ever  given  to  any  presi- 
dent up  to  that  time. 

When  the  war  closed  there  was  great  rejoicing; 
and  on  April  11,  two  days  after  Lee's  sur- 
render, Lincoln  made  a  speech  in  Congress  in 
which  he  strongly  urged  that  the  states  which 
had  seceded  should  be  treated  with  leniency 
and  restored  to  their  proper  relations  to  the 
central  government  as  quickly  and  as  quietly  as 
possible. 

On  April  14,  1865,  the  fourth  anniversary  of 
the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  a  general  holiday  was 
observed;  and  in  the  evening  the  President  at- 
tended a  special  performance  in  Ford's  theatre. 

During  the  progress  of  the  performance  a  re- 
tired actor  gamed  access  to  the  president's  box 
and,  placing  a  pistol  over  Lincoln's  chair,  shot 
him  through  the  head. 

The  assassin  escaped  amid  the  general  confu- 
sion, but  was  discovered,  a  few  days  later,  in 
lower  Maryland  while  hiding  in  a  barn.  He 
refused  to  surrender,  and  was  shot  dead  by  one 
of  the  soldiers  who  had  been  sent  to  capture 
him. 


GARIBALDI 

1807—1882 

Giuseppe  Garibaldi,  a  descendant  of  an  old 
family  of  Lombards  of  North  Italy,  was  born  in 
Nice,  on  July  4,  1807. 

At  an  early  age  he  became  an  expert  swimmer, 
and  it  is  recorded  that  while  still  a  lad  he  saved 
several  persons  from  drowning. 

He  had  an  excellent  mother,  and  his  love  for 
her  was  both  tender  and  true;  and  she  seems  to 
have  been  instrumental  in  developing  in  him 
that  strong  patriotic  feeUng  which  formed  the 
leading  feature  in  his  character. 

It  was  under  the  direction  of  his  mother,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  village  priest  as  school- 
master,  that  he  received  his  education. 

His  father  was  a  seaman,  and  young  Garibaldi 
accompanied  him  on  several  of  his  voyages, 
particularly  to  Rome  and  Constantinople. 

By  the  time  Garibaldi  reached  the  age  of  twenty- 
four  he  had  become  warmly  interested  in  the 
revolutionary  movements  of  ''Young  Italy."  His 
interest  was  greatly  quickened  through  his  be- 
coming acquainted  with  Mazzini  (mat  zee  nee), 


By  courtesy  of  Woman's  Home  Comjxinion 
GAUIliALUl    AMJ    1118    SON 


328  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

who  was  just  then  preparing  to  invade  Italy  by 
sea. 

The  effort  was  unsuccessful,  and  Garibaldi  hastily 
left  the  country  and  thus  found  himself  an  exile 
at  the  very  beginning  of  his  career.  He  took 
refuge  in  Marseilles,  and  afterwards  joined  the 
French  navy. 

As  soon  as  he  could  get  himself  free  from  his 
entanglements  he  started  on  a  sea  voyage;  and 
in  1836  we  find  him  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  where  he 
remained  for  about  twelve  years.  These  years 
were  filled  with  romantic  adventures,  from  some 
of  which  he  barely  escaped  with  his  life. 

Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  one  of  the  states  of  Brazil, 
possessing  a  vast  territory,  was  at  war  with  the 
Brazilian  emperor,  and  Garibaldi  threw  in  his 
lot  with  the  revolutionists. 

He  first  took  command  of  a  privateer,  a  small 
boat  with  only  twelve  men  as  crew.  But  a  little 
later  he  was  successful  in  seizing,  as  a  prize,  a 
much  larger  and  better  equipped  vessel;  and 
although  not  always  successful  in  his  encounters 
with  the  Brazilians  he  began  to  make  himself  felt 
as  one  of  the  factors  to  be  dealt  with  in  the  war. 

He  passed  over  into  the  Argentine  territory, 
and  there  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  brutish  Spanish 
American  who  struck  him  across  the  face  with 


GARIBALDI  329 

a  horse-whip,  and  who  also  caused  him  to  suffer 
several  hours  of  torture  on  the  rack,  after  which 
he  was  cast  into  a  dungeon. 

Through  the  kindness  of  Madame  Alleman, 
whom  Garibaldi  afterwards  spoke  of  as  "an 
angel  of  charity,"  his  sufferings  were  not  so  in- 
tense as  they  otherwise  might  have  been.  Shortly 
afterwards  through  the  intervention  of  the  gover- 
nor he  escaped  from  his  tormentor. 

On  leaving  the  Argentine  territory  he  crossed 
over  again  into  Rio  Grande  and  devoted  himself 
anew  to  the  cause  of  the  revolutionists. 

This  time  he  met  with  better  success,  fighting 
many  battles,  sometimes  with  only  a  handful 
of  men.  The  difficulties  he  met  with  were  tre- 
mendous; but  he  never  lost  his  courage,  and 
showed  so  much  skill  and  such  strong  personality 
as  gave  great  authority  to  his  counsels.  He  also 
softened  the  stern  discipline  under  which  the 
soldiers  had  fretted  for  years;  and  this  made  him 
popular  with  the  army. 

In  a  hurricane  off  the  coast  of  Santa  Catharina 
he  was  wrecked;  and  while  detained  thon^  he 
met  Anita,  the  talented  woman  who  l)ecamc  his 
wife.  She  was  a  woman  of  heroic  mold,  and 
proved  lici'scif  both  true  imd  lielpfiil  in  nil  the 
hardships  which   befell  him. 


330  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

After  the  defeat  of  the  revolutionists  at  the 
battle  of  Las  Austras  Garibaldi  seems  to  have 
grown  discouraged  as  to  the  outcome  of  the  war. 
He  therefore  bade  farewell  to  his  friends  at  Rio 
Grande  and  settled  for  a  while  in  Montevideo. 

At  Montevideo  he  became  a  teacher  of  mathe- 
matics in  one  of  the  city  schools;  but  the  life  of  a 
teacher  was  too  tame  for  a  man  of  his  adventur- 
ous spirit  and  he  soon  gave  up  his  position  and 
again  entered  upon  the  life  of  a  soldier. 

Some  men  who  had  become  jealous  of  his  suc- 
cesses in  Rio  Grande  now  plotted  to  have  him 
assassinated;  but  in  this  they  failed. 

He  was  then  put  in  charge  of  a  small  squadron 
and  sent  out  to  meet  a  much  superior  force, 
in  the  hope  that  he  might  be  destroyed.  But 
he  won  such  glory  in  the  battle  of  San  Antonio 
as  to  earn  for  himself  the  proud  title  of  'Hhe 
Hero  of  Montevideo." 

Through  all  his  wanderings  and  adventures 
his  heart  remained  true  to  the  cause  of  his  native 
country;  and  after  an  absence  of  over  twelve 
years  he  decided  to  return  to  Italy. 

With  great  difficulty  he  procured  the  money 
for  his  voyage,  and  he  landed  at  Nice  with  his 
wife  and  a  few  faithful  comrades  in  1848. 

On   his   arrival   Garibaldi   offered   his   services 


GARIBALDI  331 

to  the  Italian  government,  but  they  were  re- 
fused. Finally  the  government  of  Lombardy 
gave  him  command  of  a  small  body  of  volunteers. 

When  Rome  was  attacked  by  the  French, 
the  Italians,  regardless  of  party,  gathered  their 
forces  about  Garibaldi  and  drove  the  French  back. 

But  the  Italians  suffered  a  terrible  defeat  in  a 
three  months'  siege  of  Rome  a  Httle  later  on, 
and  many  ^'aluable  lives  were  lost. 

The  French  took  possession  of  the  city;  and 
Garibaldi,  with  a  few  devoted  volunteers,  set 
out  to  join  the  attack  then  being  made  on  Aus- 
tria. He  and  his  followers  were  met  on  all  sides 
by  the  overwhelming  forces  of  Austria  and  were 
compelled  to  disband  and  flee  to  the  woods. 

Garibaldi  sought  shelter  for  his  brave  wife 
Anita;  but  she  was  unable  to  endure  the  hard- 
ships which  followed,  and  died  in  the  arms  of  her 
husband. 

Our  heart-broken  hero  again  became  a  wan- 
derer. A  friend  supplied  him  with  means  to 
reach  Tunis,  and  obtained  for  him  a  pension, 
which   he  gladly   accepted. 

Garibaldi  again  crossed  the  ocean,  this  time 
to  the  United  States.  He  Ix'came  a  successful 
business  man  in  Xew  York,  where  he  remained 
luitil  his  return  to  Europe  in  1855. 


332  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

When  he  reached  home  he  purchased  a  part 
of  the  islet  of  Caprera  on  the  coast  of  Sardinia; 
and  built  a  Uttle  home  which  he  called  ''The 
Hermitage." 

Four  years  later  he  was  again  called  to  defend 
the  cause  of  Italy.  He  was  given  command  of 
a  regiment,  and  again  went  forth  to  meet  the 
Austrians  whom  he  defeated  at  Varese.  He 
continued  in  the  service  until  the  peace  of  Villa- 
franca,  to  v/hich  Napoleon  was  a  party;  and 
this  treaty  brought  the  long  struggle  for  ItaUan 
independence  to  a  successful  close. 

Victor  Emmanuel  was  now  on  the  throne  of 
Italy,  and  Garibaldi,  who  was  popularly  known 
as  "the  hero  of  the  red  shirt,"  was  warmly  wel- 
comed by  him. 

It  was  in  Victor  Emmanuel  that  the  hopes  of 
the  patriots  now  centered  for  the  freedom  of 
Italy,  and  they  were  not  disappointed;  for  by 
the  wise  policy  of  Count  Cavour,  the  prime  minis- 
ter, and  the  many  victories  of  Garibaldi,  it  was 
established   on  a  firm   basis. 

After  meeting  Victor  Emmanuel  and  hailing 
him  as  king.  Garibaldi  retired  to  his  hermitage; 
but  a  great  part  of  Italy  still  longed  to  possess 
Rome  as  its  capital. 

The   French   upheld   the   power   of   the   Pope; 


GARIBALDI  333 

but  the  Franco-Prussian  war  of  1870  caused 
France  to  ^^•ithdraw  her  troops  from  Rome. 

When  the  French  repubhc  was  established 
Victor  Emmanuel  was  officially  told  that  France 
would  no  longer  uphold  the  Papal  power;  and 
the  Italian  government  informed  the  Pope  that 
Rome  would  thereafter  be  considered  a  part  of 
the  kingdom  of  Italy. 

On  July  2,  1872,  Victor  Emmanuel  took 
up  his  residence  in  Rome,  and  the  palace  of  the 
Vatican  became  the  Pope's  place  of  residence. 

In  1875  Garibaldi  became  a  member  of  the 
Italian  parliament.  Titles  and  honors  were  offered 
him  but  he  declined  to  accept  them. 

His  health  was  rapidly  failing.  So  he  retired 
again  to  his  hermitage,  where  he  died  on  June 
2,  1882,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 


WILLIAM   EWART   GLADSTONE 

1809—1898 

William  Ewart  Gladstone  was  born  of  Scotch 
parents,  and  he  was  one  of  the  very  few  Scotch- 
men who  have  taken  a  prominent  part  in  British 
statecraft. 

He  was  sent  to  the  great  public  school  at 
Eton  when  twelve  years  of  age.  There  he  was 
always  noted  for  his  good  behavior  and  "for  his 
regular  attendance  at  the  chapel  services.  It 
is  also  recorded  of  him  that  he  could  recite  more 
verses  of  scripture  than  any  other  boy  in  the 
school. 

The  character  of  Mr.  Gladstone  is  very  hard 
to  analyse  because  of  its  many-sidedness;  and 
for  that  reason  he  was  often  misunderstood 
and  lost  many  friends. 

He  graduated  from  Christ  Church  College, 
Oxford,  when  twenty- two  years  of  age,  having 
won  the  highest  honors  the  college  could  bestow. 

An  account  of  his  appearance,  published  at 
the  time  of  his  graduation  says,  '^In  features 
he  is  handsome;  his  face  is  bold  and  masculine; 
his   eyes    are   of    piercing   luster;   and   his   hair, 


WILLIAM   EWART   GLADSTONE  335 

which  he  tosses  back  in  debate,  is  like  a  lion's 
mane.  He  speaks  five  languages,  is  an  excellent 
tenor  singer,  is  on  more  than  speaking  terms  with 
many  of  the  greatest  men  in  England,  and  be- 
sides all  this  he  is  rich  in  English  gold." 

His  influence  at  college  was  so  abiding  that 
Cardinal  Manning  has  said  that,  ''There  was  less 
wine  drunk  at  Oxford  during  the  forties  than 
would  have  been  the  case  if  Gladstone  had  not 
been   there   in   the   thirties." 

It  appears  to  have  been  his  intention  to  be- 
come a  clergyman  of  the  English  church,  and  he 
studied  with  this  object  in  view\ 

His  father  had  other  plans  for  him  and  half 
forced  him  into  politics;  so  that  immediately 
on  leaving  college  he  ran 'for  Parliament,  was 
elected,  and  at  once  made  his  influence  felt  in 
the  House  of  Commons. 

For  more  than  sixty  years  thereafter,  he  was 
one  of  the  powers  to  be  reckoned  with  on  all 
cjuestions  connected  with  the  English  govern- 
ment. 

At  thirty-three  years  of  age  he  was  a  member 
of  the  British  Cabinet;  but  three  years  lat(M- 
his  absolute  honesty  rom|>elled  him  to  resign 
from  the  Ministry.  His  ()j)|)()ii('iifs  said,  "(Ilad- 
stone    is   an    extinct    xoicano."      lUil    (Iicn'    were 


(336) 


WILLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE  337 

continually  discovering  that  a  volcano  is  a  diffi- 
cult thing  to  subdue. 

In  his  home  life  he  was  gentle,  amiable  and 
hospitable.  His  social  instincts  were  large  and 
his  disposition  was  kindly.  He  was  always  true 
to  his  friends,  and  they  revered  him  to  a  point 
little  short  of  idolatry. 

He  delivered  his  maiden  speech  in  Parliament 
on  a  subject  connected  with  the  great  movement 
for  the  emancipation  of  the  West  Indian  slaves; 
but  he  seemed  to  have  confined  himself  mainly 
to  a  defense  of  the  manner  in  which  his  father's 
estates  were  managed,  the  course  of  the  debate 
having  brought  out  some  charges  against  the 
management  of  the  elder  Gladstone's  possessions 
in  one  of  the  West  Indian  Islands. 

In  January,  1835,  Sir  Robert  Peel  appointed 
Gladstone  to  the  office  of  a  Junior  Lord  of  the 
Treasury.  In  the  next  year  Peel,  who  was  quick 
to  appreciate  the  great  abilities  and  the  sound 
commercial  knowledge  of  his  new  recruit,  gave 
him  the  important  post  of  Undersecretary  for 
the  Colonies. 

Peel  went  out  of  office  very  soon  after  he  had 
made  Mr.  Gladstone  Undersecretary  for  tlie 
colonies.  Lord  John  Russell  brought  forward 
a  series  of   niolioiis  on    (he   subject    of   the   Irish 

HAAKEN-M.T.-i;2 


338  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Church,  and  Peel  being  defeated,  resigned.  It 
is  almost  needless  to  say  that  Gladstone  went 
with  him.  In  1841,  Sir  Robert  Peel  again  came 
into  power,  and  Gladstone  was  given  a  seat  in 
his  Cabinet  as  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade. 

At  the  general  election  in  1847,  Mr.  Gladstone, 
still  accepted  as  a  Tory,  was  chosen  one  of  the 
representatives  of  the  University  of  Oxford. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  movement  which  led  to 
the  abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws,  Mr.  Gladstone 
had  been  a  Tory  of  a  rather  old-fashioned  school. 
The  corn-law  agitation  probably  first  set  him- 
thinking  over  the  possible  defects  of  the  social 
and  legislative  system,  and  showed  him  the 
necessity  for  reform  at  least  in  one  direction. 

By  the  death  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  in  1850,  Mr. 
Gladstone  lost  a  trusted  leader,  and  a  dear  friend. 
But  the  loss  of  his  leader  brought  Gladstone 
himself  more  directly  to  the  front. 

It  was  not  until  after  Peel's  death  that  he 
compelled  the  House  of  Commons  and  the  country 
to  recognize  in  him  a  supreme  master  of  parlia- 
mentary debate.  The  first  really  great  speech 
made  by  Mr.  Gladstone  in  Parliament  was  made 
in  the  debate  on  Mr.  Disraeli's  budget  in  the 
winter  of  1852,  the  first  session  of  the  new  Parlia- 
ment. 


WILLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE  339 

Mr.  Disraeli  sat  down  at  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  then  Mr.  Gladstone  rose  to  reply 
to  him.  Most  men  in  the  House,  even  on  the 
opposition  side,  were  filled  with  the  belief  that 
it  would  be  impossible  to  make  any  real  impres- 
sion on  the  House  after  such  a  speech  as  that  of 
Mr.  Disraeli.  Long  before  Mr.  Gladstone  had 
concluded,  every  one  admitted  that  the  effect  of 
Mr.  Disraeli's  speech  had  been  outdone,  and 
Gladstone  became  fully  recognized  as  the  man  of 
the  hour;  a  man  to  rank  with  Bolingbroke,  Pitt, 
and  Fox. 

With  that  speech  began  the  long  parliamentary 
duel  between  these  two  great  masters  of  debate, 
Mr.  Gladstone  and  Mr.  Disraeli,  which  was  car- 
ried on  for  four  and  twenty  years. 

On  the  fall  of  the  short-lived  Tory  adminis- 
tration, Lord  Aberdeen  came  into  office.  He 
formed  the  famous  Coalition  Ministry.  Lord 
Palmerston  took  what  most  people  would  have 
thought  the  uncongenial  ofifice  of  Home  Secre- 
tary. Mr.  Gladstone,  who  with  ollici-  of  the 
'Teelites,"  as  they  were  called,  had  joined  the 
new  administration,  was  made  Ghancellor  of  the 
Exche(4uer. 

His  speech  on  the  inlroduction  of  his  fii-sl 
budget    was    waited    for    with    lii'ca!    interest,  but 


340  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

none  of  those  who  Hstened  to  it  would  have 
wished  it  to  be  shortened  by  a  sentence.  A 
budget  speech  by  Mr.  Gladstone  was  a  triumph 
in  the  realm  of  fine  arts. 

The  Crimean  War  broke  up  the  Coalition  Minis- 
try; but  the  year  1859  saw  Lord  Palmerston 
back  in  office,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  in  his  old  place 
as  Chancellor   of   the   Exchequer. 

The  death  of  Lord  Palmerston,  in  1865,  called 
Lord  Russell  to  the  position  of  prime  minister, 
and  made  Mr.  Gladstone  leader  of  the  House  of 
Commons. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  mind  had  long  been  turning 
in  the  direction  of  an  extension,  or  rather  ex- 
pansion, of  the  suffrage.  It  was  assumed  by 
everyone  that  Lord  Russell  and  Mr.  Gladstone 
being  now  at  the  head  of  affairs,  a  reform  bill 
would  be  sure  to  come.  It  did  come  in  1866, 
a  very  moderate  and  cautious  bill,  enlarging 
the  area  of  the  franchise  in  boroughs  and  counties. 
The  Conservative  party  opposed  it.  The  bill 
was  defeated,  and  the  Liberal  statesman  went 
out  of  office. 

Somewhere  about  this  time  the  attention  of 
Mr.  Gladstone  began  to  be  attracted  to  the  con- 
dition of  Ireland.  The  distress  and  distracted 
state   of   Ireland,    the   unceasing   popular   agita- 


WILLI A.M   EWART   GLADSTONE  341 

tion  and  discontent,  and  the  Fenian  insurrection, 
with  its  contemplated  attack  on  Chester  Castle, 
led  Mr.  Gladstone  to  the  conviction  that  the  time 
had  come  when  statesmanship  must  seek  through 
Parliament  for  some  process  of  remedy. 

In  1868  the  Liberals  returned  to  power,  and 
Mr.  Gladstone  became  prime  minister. 

In  his  first  session  of  government  he  disestab- 
hshed  and  disendowed  the  state  church  in  Ire- 
land. In  the  next  session  he  passed  a  measure 
which  for  the  first  time  recognized  the  right  of 
the  Irish  tenant  to  the  value  of  the  improve- 
ments he  had  himself  made  at  his  own  cost  and 
labor.  Never  probably  was  there  such  a  period 
of  energetic  reform  in  almost  every  direction 
as  that  which  set  in  when  Mr.  Gladstone  be- 
came prime  minister. 

It  was  also  at  this  time,  and  quite  largely 
through  Mr.  Gladstone's  efforts,  that  the  first 
system  of  national  education  was  established 
in  England.  The  Ballot  Act  was  passed  for  the 
protection  of  the  voters  so  that  they  might  vote 
as  they  wished  without  having  to  suffer  painful 
consequences  after  the  election  was  over.  These 
two  measures  have  been  of  great  value  lo  the 
English  j)('()pl('  and   they  j)riz('  thciii  xcvy  liighly. 

For    awhile    Mr.    Gladstone    occupied    himself 


342  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

in  literary  and  historical  studies,  and  published 
quite  a  number  of  essays  and  pamphlets.  But 
even  in  his  literary  career  Mr.  Gladstone  would 
appear  to  have  always  kept  glancing  at  the  House 
of  Commons,  as  Charles  V  in  his  monastery  kept 
his  eyes  on  the  world  of  poUtics  outside. 

The  atrocious  conduct  of  the  Turkish  officials 
in  Bulgaria  aroused  his  generous  anger,  and  he 
flung  down  his  books  and  rushed  out  from  his 
study  to  preach  a  crusade  against  the  Ottoman 
power  in  Europe. 

It  was  an  unpropitious  hour  at  which  to  return 
to  office.  There  were  troubles  in  Egypt;  there 
was  impending  war  in  the  Sudan  and  in  South 
Africa.  There  was  something  Hke  an  agrarian 
revolution  going  on  in  Ireland;  and  the  Home 
Rule  party  in  the  House  of  Commons  was  under 
new,  resolute,  and  uncompromising  leadership. 

He  was  out  of  office  in  a  few  months;  and 
then  the  general  elections  came  on.  These  elec- 
tions were  to  give  the  first  opportunity  to  the 
newly-made  voters  under  Mr.  Gladstone's  latest 
reform  act;  and  these  voters  sent  him  back  into 
office  and  he  once  again  took  the  helm  and  strove 
to  guide  the  ship  of  state  through  the  troubled 
seas  which  beat  upon  it  from  every  point  of  the 
compass. 


WILLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE  343 

Under  his  leadership  a  home-rule  bill  for  Ire- 
land was  passed  by  the  Commons  in  spite  of  most 
bitter  opposition.  It  was  rejected  almost  unan- 
imously by  the  House  of  Lords. 

But  time  was  beginning  to  tell  upon  the  '^  Grand 
Old  Man;"  for  he  was  now  eighty-four  years  old 
and  felt  himself  unequal  to  the  gigantic  struggle 
of  the  hour.  He  therefore  resigned  his  offices 
and  retired  into  private  life  in  March  1894. 

Mr.  Gladstone  sat  in  Parliament  for  sixty- 
three  years;  and  for  twenty-six  years  he  was 
the  leader  of  his  party. 

The  three  most  notable  acts  of  his  political 
career  were,  the  Disestablishment  of  the  Irish 
Church,  in  1866;  his  opposition  to  England's 
support  of  Turkey  in  1876;  and  his  work  in 
favor  of  Home  Rule  for  Ireland  in  1886;  while 
he  had  also  much  to  do  with  the  two  great  Re- 
form Prills  of  1855  and  1884. 

Mr.  (iladstone  affords  a  splendid  example  of 
a  man  who  devoted  his  life  to  the  political  service 
of  his  country,  and  si  ill  prcsor\od  his  moral  and 
religious  character. 

He  died  at  his  home,  Hawarden  Castle,  in 
1898. 


COUNT  VON   BISMARCK 

1815—1898 

Otto  Eduard  Leopold  Bismarck  was  born  on 
the  estate  of  Schonhausen,  near  Stendal,  in  Prus- 
sian Saxony,  on  April  1,   1815. 

His  ancestors  had  been  famous  both  in  war 
and  in  diplomatic  circles  for  several  generations. 

They  were  descended  from  the  Prussian  no- 
bihty;  and  his  grandfather  had  held  the  office 
of  Privy  Counsellor  to  Frederick  the  Great. 

At  the  age  of  six  he  entered  a  boarding  school 
in  Berlin,  where  he  tells  us  they  ''served  elastic 
meat,    always   accompanied   with   parsnips." 

When  he  was  twelve  he  came  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Dr.  Prevost  who  did  much  for  the 
broadening  of  his  mind  and  the  strengthening 
of  his  character. 

During  his  vacations  he  developed  his  powers 
of  endurance  by  participating  in  manly  sports; 
and  then,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  entered 
the  University  of  Gottingen  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  law. 

As  a  student  he  was  not  a  brilliant  success. 
He  did  not  hold  himself  strictly  to  the  prescribed 


BISMARCK  345 

studies  of  his  course.  During  the  first  year  of 
his  university  life  he  fought  twenty-eight  duels; 
in  one  of  these  he  was  wounded  on  the  left 
cheek  and  he  carried  the  scar  left  by  the  wound 
all  through  his  later  life. 

On   leaving   Gottingen,   in    1833,    he   went   to 
Berlin.     After  a  couple  of  years  of  study  there 
he  received  the  diploma  necessary  to  enable  him 
to  enter  upon  a  professional  career,    but  decided 
to  devote  his  time  to  the  care  of  his  estate. 

When  thirty-two  years  of  age  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  General  Diet.  He  at  once 
began  to  impress  the  people  with  his  great  tact 
and  forethought,  and  each  year  their  confidence 
in  him  was  deepened. 

He  exercised  a  large  amount  of  outward  pa- 
tience toward  those  who  op])osed  him;  but  he  was 
simply  awaiting  the  time  when  he  could  strike 
such  decisi\e  blows  as  would  assure  his  ultimate 
success.  This  was  one  of  the  marked  character- 
istics of  his  whole  career. 

It  would  seem  that  from  the  very  beginning 
of  his  political  life  the  people  decided  (o  take  him 
just  as  he  was;  .'iiid  they  grew  to  be  very  fond 
of  liim. 

His  .'lini  w;is  to  preserve  Ihc  peace  of  JMirope. 
Witli  great  skill  he  ;l^■()i(l(•(^  trouble  both  lor  liini- 


346  FAMOUS  MEN  OF    MODERN  TIMES 

self  and  for  his  countrymen;  and  he  quickly 
made  for  himself  a  name  both  at  home  and 
abroad. 

His  early  life  was  lived  among  the  Prussians, 
but  he  became  objectionable  to  them  because 
of  his  desire  for  power. 

At  the  first  Prussian  Parliament  in  which  he 
sat,  in  1847,  he  said  in  one  of  his  speeches,  ''Away 
with  the  cities.  I  hope  to  see  them  all  levelled 
to  the  ground;"  and  these  words  had  in  them 
the  ring  of  that  social  hatred  which  he  always 
showed   toward   the  liberal  class. 

He  followed  very  closely  in  the  footprints  of 
Garibaldi  in  the  struggle  for  the  unity  and  in- 
dependence of  Italy;  and  it  would  seem  to  be 
equally  certain  that  Bismarck's  methods  were 
also  followed  by  Garibaldi  on  several  occasions. 

There  were  many  non-Prussians  who  greatly 
admired  Bismarck  on  account  of  his  endeavors 
for  German  unity;  but  the  people  in  the  southern 
part  of  Germany  were  equally  strong  in  their 
dislike  for  him. 

Through  many  discouragements  he  continued 
to  press  calmly  onward  in  what  he  felt  to  be  the 
path  of  duty,  and  for  over  twenty  years  his 
career  was  unusually  prosperous. 

At  different  periods  Bismarck  was  appointed 


(347) 


348  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

ambassador  to  Austria,  Russia,  and  France.  In 
1862,  at  the  age  of  forty-seven,  he  became  Minis- 
ter of  the  King's  household,  and  also  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs  in  Prussia. 

The  brother  of  the  king  was  very  much  op- 
posed to  Bismarck's  plan  of  excluding  Austria 
from  a  place  in  the  remodelled  German  Confed- 
eration. Even  the  queen  looked  upon  this  mea- 
sure with  fear,  for  she  had  been  brought  up 
under  the  principles  of  constitutional  government. 

The  Princess  Royal  of  England  also  showed 
a  bitter  spirit  toward  him,  for  she  was  anxious 
for  the  future  of  her  children.  But  King  William 
was  a  true  friend  to  him,  and  Bismarck  never 
regretted  that  he  had  placed  confidence  in  the 
king's  faithfulness. 

In  May,  1866,  a  fanatic  by  the  name  of  Kohn 
attempted  to  kill  Bismarck;  and  there  were 
some  who  openly  expressed  their  regret  that  the 
attempt   was   not   successful. 

Bismarck  devoted  his  efforts  to  two  main  pur- 
poses, to  transfer  Austria  to  a  position  in  the 
East,  and  to  give  to  Germany  political  unity 
under  Prussia. 

He  seems  to  have  felt  that  if  Austria  were 
removed  from  her  position  within  the  federal 
body,  she  would  become  a  permanent  ally  of  the 


350  FAMOUS  MEN   OF  MODERN  TIMES 

New  Germany;  and  that,  in  time,  it  would  be 
better  for  her  own  interests  and  for  those  of 
Europe. 

Bismarck  had  two  powerful  antagonists  in 
the  persons  of  Napoleon  of  France  and  Earl 
Russell  of  England;  and  some  thought  he  was 
working  to  bring  about  the  union  of  France  and 
Russia.  But  he  was  only  measuring  the  men 
with  whom  he  had  to  do,  and  studying  out  the 
plans  he  had  in  mind  for  the  strengthening  and 
consohdation  of  the  German  empire;  and  it  has 
well  been  said,  "It  was  Bismarck's  constant  mis- 
fortune to  be  misunderstood." 

In  the  Franco-Prussian  War  of  1870-71,  France 
was  severely  humbled;  but  what  was  of  most 
interest  to  Bismarck  was  that  it  caused  such 
national  enthusiasm  among  the  Germans  that, 
at  Versailles,  in  January  1871,  the  New  German 
Empire  was  established  with  the  king  of  Prussia 
as  its  leader. 

It  was  also  at  this  time  that  Bismarck  was 
raised  to  the  rank  of  prince. 

On  May  10,  1871,  at  the  Treaty  of  Frank- 
fort, France  was  obliged  to  give  to  Germany 
the  province  of  Alsace,  the  greater  part  of  Lor- 
raine, and  to  pay  an  indemnity  of  five  billion 
francs. 


Oil) 


352  FAMOUS  MEN  OF  MODERN  TIMES 

Bismarck  now  paid  close  attention  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  ''fatherland."  Germany  was  a 
federation,  not  greatly  admired  by  some  of  the 
German  people  themselves;  but  accepted  be- 
cause it  avoided  making  any  radical  changes  in 
political  affairs. 

Under  Bismarck's  skillful  management,  it  had 
been  made  so  strong  a  power  that  war  with 
France  was  no  longer  dreaded. 

Germany  is  also  indebted  to  Bismarck  for  its 
colonial  policy;  and  although  there  are  but  few 
German  colonial  ports  they  command  a  very 
large  trade.  But  it  required  all  his  tact  and  per- 
severance to  make  the  people  see  the  advantages 
which  this  policy  would  bring  them. 

After  the  death  of  William  I,  Prince  Frederick 
ascended  the  throne;  but  he  lived  only  a  short 
time. 

When  William  II  came  into  power  it  was  soon 
apparent  that  the  emperor  and  the  chancellor 
were  not  in  accord;  and  Bismarck  resigned  his 
office  on  March  20,  1890,  and  retired  to  private 
life. 

The  emperor  presented  him  with  the  Dukedom 
of  Lauenburg;  and  he  took  great  interest  in  all 
the  affairs  of  the  German  nation  until  his  death 
in  1898. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  L1BRARY|A^^^^ 


AA    000  499  339    o 


